This accuracy directly impacts patient care. With a complete medication history including updates to the patients’ allergies, physicians can order medications from the retail pharmacy to be delivered to the bedside as part of the “Meds to Beds” program. Clinical technicians also assist with clinical tasks, reorder doses and coordinate discharges so patients leave with everything they need. If a patient is not tolerating a medication or has run out, clinical technicians work closely with pharmacists and the care team to resolve issues quickly. In the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), they also review transfer records and vaccine administration schedules to support safe care.

Clinical technicians are cross-trained to provide support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, wherever they are needed in the hospital. In the ED, dedicated clinical technicians are available around the clock to assist pharmacists, improving both safety and turnaround time for medications. During codes, clinical technicians coordinate medication delivery to the bedside and assist the pharmacists with drawing up emergency medication doses.

Through the program, clinical technicians help patients identify and resolve issues with their medications.

“When we take medication histories, we sometimes find patients haven’t been taking their medications at all,” Hernandez said. “Other times, their symptoms are actually side effects from taking a medication incorrectly.”

Expanding a Program That Leads the Field
The clinical technician program began in 2013 to support clinical pharmacist activities on the inpatient units. From 2011 to 2012, pharmacy students piloted medication history taking in the ED. As a result of this pilot, medication history technicians were added in 2015 in the ED, inpatient units, and later, Perioperative Services.

In 2022, the medication history program merged with the clinical technician program, creating a more comprehensive, integrated service supported by additional full-time positions.  

Today, the program continues to grow. Pharmacy completion of medication histories has increased from 89% of admissions to 98% in 2025. The team is recognized as a leader in the field.

“We have one of the most robust programs in the country with research dedicated to this,” Yeh said.

That recognition extends beyond Cook Children’s. At a recent Children’s Hospital Association conference, the Cook Children’s program was highlighted as a model for medication history programs nationwide. Hospitals across the country have reached out to learn about the program’s structure and success.

Most importantly, the impact is felt by patients and families every day.

“We take a holistic approach to improving the patient experience, from transitions of care to how we measure success,” Yeh said. “This program makes a difference for patients every day.”

“Hey bud, how did you get that BAND-AID^®?”

“I just climbed up on this and got it (from the medicine cabinet).”

Those are 2 conversations that happen frequently and just yesterday, respectively, in my house.

A study released this month in Pediatrics (the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics) looked at out-of-hospital medication errors in patients less than 6 years of age.

There were many questions that the study looked to answer:

How common are medication errors?

Almost 700,000 errors in these children over the 10 year period, that is equal to 1 error every 8 minutes.

Many of these were minor and required no medical care, but there were almost 2,000 children who required intensive care and 25 death due to medication errors.

What type of medications were associated with more errors?

Liquid medications were the most common, accounting for 81.9% of the errors. These kids are more likely to be taking liquid medications so this might be expected but it’s still a good reminder we need to be cautious.

Where do the ingestions occur?

The child’s own home was the location of the ingestions 96.9% of the time.

What errors were the most common?

The 5 most common errors were:

1. Medication accidentally given twice.
2. Confused the units of measure (1  milliliters (mL) vs 1 teaspoon (tsp).
3. Wrong medication taken/given.
4. Medication given too soon.
5. Accidentally was given or took someone else’s medicine.

So what can you do to protect your child?

1. Be aware. These errors are common and we need to be aware.
2. Be cautious with liquid medications. Kids can find and ingest them more easily and dosing errors are more common.
3. Protect your own home. Make sure that medications are locked away in a safe place.
4. Double, triple and quadruple check your dosing. You know the saying measure twice and cut once? For meds it should be measure 5x and give once.
5. Assign a primary medication giver for the house. If anyone else is giving meds, run it through them first.