Over the last few years, the Joint Commission has put a fair amount of emphasis on medication reconciliation before a patient is admitted to the hospital. Different institutions handle this in different ways. Many hospitals make nurses take patients’ med histories. Others put this chore in the laps of pharmacists — particularly ER pharmacists (if the hospital is fortunate enough to have them). Luckily, I’ve been able to avoid all of that tedium, since we have a fleet of pharmacy techs in charge of med rec. Not so luckily, I get to share my office (formerly a storage closet) with the whole lot of them.

As I’m trying to work, one particular tech, Med Rec Betty, always feels the need to narrate to me what happened with every single med history she has attempted. Sometimes I politely act like I’m paying attention. Just as often, I lose patience and put on a pair of headphones. Today, I listened.

Med Rec Betty: I just spent a half-hour in the room of the patient that the helicopter just dropped off. His whole family was in the room. It was really awkward — everybody crying while I try and figure out which pharmacy he uses.

PharmNerd: Mmm-hmm.

Med Rec Betty: Now that I think about it, they seemed kind of rude. Excuse me, but it’s my job to get med histories on every patient that gets admitted.

PharmNerd: Wait… are you talking about the guy in Room 2?

Med Rec Betty: Yeah, him! Hey, what’s that tube sticking out of his mouth? It kind of looked like a breathing tube, but it wasn’t hooked up to anything.

PharmNerd: Yeah… that was a breathing tube. Call it a hunch, but I’m pretty sure he’s not being admitted.