Potentially unintended chronic medication discontinuation at hospital discharge

Discharge transitions are fraught with potential medical errors and adverse events, one of which is unintentional medication discontinuation. In this large cohort of discharged patients, inadvertent discontinuation of a statin or anti-platelet/anti-coagulant increased the risk of death, ED visit, or readmission (at 1 year follow up) by 7% and 10% respectively.  Discontinuation rates were higher among patients who were in an ICU versus those that were not (indicating they had more than 2 care transitions). Methodical medication reconciliation is vital during care transitions, to reduce inadvertent medication discontinuation (abstract)