Key result
A pharmacist-led transitions-of-care program for 661 telemetry patients improved HCAHPS scores and achieved pharmacist review of 94% of admission and 75% of discharge medications.
Why the study?
Does a pharmacist-led transitions-of-care program improve patient-reported medication communication and care transitions in adults admitted to an inpatient telemetry unit?
Does a pharmacist-led transitions-of-care program improve patient-reported medication communication and care transitions in adults admitted to an inpatient telemetry unit?
Implementation of a pharmacist-led transitions-of-care program in a telemetry unit improved patient-reported understanding of medications and increased pharmacist-led medication reconciliation rates.
Supports pharmacist-led transitions programs in telemetry; hypothesis-generating and requires randomized trials before practice change.
PURPOSE: The development and implementation of a hospitalwide, pharmacist-led transitions-of-care (TOC) program are described. METHODS: This 21-week quality improvement initiative was conducted from October 1, 2015, to February 26, 2016, at Memorial Hospital Pembroke. A TOC team was comprised of pharmacists, a pharmacy resident, pharmacy students, a physician, case managers, and nurses. All patients over the age of 18 admitted to the inpatient telemetry unit were included in this initiative. The primary endpoint was a sustained improvement in Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores for "Communication About Medications" and "Care Transitions: Understood the Purpose of Taking Medications." Secondary outcomes included 90% of admission and 80% of discharge medication reconciliations reviewed by a pharmacist. RESULTS: A total of 661 patients were included. The HCAHPS scores for "Communication About Medications" and "Care Transitions: Understood the Purpose of Taking Medications" had a sustained improvement during the study period. A pharmacist completed 94% and 75% of admission and discharge medication reviews, respectively, and a total of 1,579 interventions were made. Discharge education was completed at a rate of 73%. CONCLUSION: After a quality improvement initiative developed by pharmacists was implemented, HCAHPS scores showed improvement and more patients received medication reconciliation.
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Brantley et al. (2018) studied Inpatient telemetry unit admission (n=661). Pharmacist-led transitions-of-care program was evaluated on Sustained improvement in Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores for 'Communication About Medications' and 'Care Transitions: Understood the Purpose of Taking Medications'. A pharmacist-led transitions-of-care program for 661 telemetry patients improved HCAHPS scores and achieved pharmacist review of 94% of admission and 75% of discharge medications.
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