What does medication reconciliation involve to improve safety?

• A. Refill medications without cross-checking orders.
• B. Review allergies exclusively.
• C. Reconcile medications by comparing current meds with new orders; resolve discrepancies; reduce omissions, duplications, and dosing errors.
• D. Discharge planning without med review.

Answer: (C)

Medication reconciliation centers on making sure the patient’s medication list is accurate and consistent across care transitions by actively resolving differences between what they are taking and what is ordered. The essential steps are to gather the current medications, compare them with new or updated orders, and resolve any discrepancies so the final list is correct. This practice directly reduces omissions, duplications, and dosing errors, which are common sources of harm, especially when a patient moves between units, during admission, transfer, or discharge. That’s why the best description is reconciling medications by comparing current meds with new orders, resolving discrepancies, and reducing omissions, duplications, and dosing errors. The other options don’t capture the full safety-focused process: simply refilling without cross-checking orders misses the necessary comparison; reviewing allergies alone doesn’t address the full med list or discrepancies; and discharge planning without med review omits the reconciliation step altogether.