Medical Assistants May Help Improve Medication Reconciliation, Multimorbid Conditions, Studies Show

​Having medical assistants ask open-ended questions to begin the medication review process significantly improved the accuracy of medication reconciliation for both prescription and nonprescription drugs, found a study published March 2016 in the Journal of Patient Safety. A total of 24 physicians and 33 medical assistants were observed during 231 patient encounters to see whether 14 physician, medical assistant, and patient behaviors were associated with improved medication reconciliation. Of the 14 studied, only one behavior (medical assistants asking open-ended questions to begin the medication review) was associated with improved accuracy.