Impact of Implementing a Pharmacy-Driven Intervention Bundle on Hospital Readmission Rates for Patients With Heart Failure

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of hospitalization and readmission. An emerging body of literature has discussed the impact of pharmacy-driven interventions in reducing hospital readmission rates and improvement in patient outcomes. Objective: To evaluate the impact of a pharmacy-driven intervention bundle on 30-day readmission rates for patients with HF. Methods: The institutional review board granted exempt status for this pre-post interventional study. The control group included patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of HF and received standard care between October 2022 and December 2022. The intervention group received a real-time heart failure–directed (HFD) pharmacy-driven intervention bundle from October 2023 to March 2024. The primary outcome was 30-day readmission rate. Secondary outcomes included the percentage of patients discharged on guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) and time to 30-day readmission. Results: In total, 18.5% (67/363) of patients in the HFD group were readmitted within 30 days compared with 21.2% (77/363) of patients in the control group (p = 0.352). The odds of readmission for the HFD group within 30 days were 0.766 (95% CI [0.518, 1.129]) compared with the control group. 127 (34.9%) patients in the HFD group were discharged on GDMT, compared with 31 (8.5%) patients in the control group (P < 0.0001). Time to 30-day readmission revealed a hazard ratio of 0.783 (95% CI [0.552, 1.108]) for patients in the HFD group compared with the control group. Conclusion: The odds of 30-day readmission were nonsignificantly lower in the HFD group. This study demonstrated that pharmacy-driven HFD interventions resulted in higher utilization of GDMT.