Reconciliation of health records following penicillin allergy testing of hospitalized patients

Background Medication errors are common and can lead to substantial morbidity. Similarly, inaccurate medication allergy lists can result in increased costs to the system, unnecessary allergy testing, prescription of inappropriate antibiotics, and allergic reactions. We hypothesized that most inpatients tested for penicillin allergy were not allergic and this information was not documented in the EMR or communicated to general practitioners.