Implementation of a pharmacy technician medication history service at a pediatric health system

PURPOSE: Medication history collection continues to be a growing area of innovation to meet the needs of complex patients. Pediatric patients are no exception to this need and often require health systems to dedicate resources to provide appropriate medication history collection and reconciliation for patients. This study reviews the implementation of a pharmacy technician medication history service for patients at a freestanding pediatric health system. SUMMARY: In this study, technicians were able to complete 38.31% (n = 367) of medication histories for 1,000 patients with a pharmacy-completed medication history upon admission from the emergency department. Additionally, the study identified the impact of a medication history complexity scoring tool. The tool directs pharmacy technicians to complete medication histories that may be less complex and pharmacists to complete more complex medication histories and reconciliations. The study also looked at health system-assigned errors associated with medication histories to ensure patient safety with pharmacy technician medication history implementation. CONCLUSION: Medication histories for pediatric patients completed by pharmacy technicians can be safe and effective when appropriate parameters and didactic training are provided to support technicians in this role. Utilization of a medication history complexity scoring tool can help drive appropriate triaging of medication history needs for pharmacy technicians, pharmacy interns, and pharmacists.