Key result
Community pharmacists support care transitions primarily by reviewing medications, resolving drug problems, and providing education.
Why the study?
While multidisciplinary interventions supporting transitions from hospital to home generally show benefit, the role of community pharmacists is still being defined.
What interventions are performed by community and ambulatory-care pharmacists for patients undergoing care transitions?
Systematic Review (n=12)
What interventions are performed by community and ambulatory-care pharmacists for patients undergoing care transitions?
Community pharmacists are increasingly positioned to contribute to care transitions through medication review and education, though structural barriers remain.
Reinforces medication review and education as core pharmacist roles in care transitions; extends evidence by quantifying gaps in PHR assistance and red flag discussions.
BACKGROUND: The impact of multidisciplinary interventions to support patients moving from hospital to home have generally demonstrated a benefit. However, the role of community pharmacists is still being defined. OBJECTIVES: To review, with the use of the Coleman Care Transitions Intervention (CTI) pillars, the interventions performed by community and ambulatory-care pharmacists for patients undergoing care transitions. DATA SOURCES: The following databases were searched for manuscripts published from 1997 to 2017: Pubmed, Cochrane Database, Cinahl, and Embase. DATA EXTRACTION: Two authors screened manuscripts for relevancy. Studies were included if they evaluated patient care processes by community or ambulatory-care pharmacists as part of care transitions beyond receiving a discharge summary. Data were abstracted by one author and reviewed by the other. RESULTS: Twelve studies were included in the review, 8 of which were from the community setting. Each CTI pillar was represented, although to differing degrees. Pharmacists applied their experience in reviewing medications, identifying and resolving drug therapy problems, and providing education to this new context. Better mechanisms are needed to notify pharmacists of patients undergoing transition, grant access to medical records, and provide appropriate reimbursement. The CTI pillars of assisting patients with personal health records and discussing condition red flags were infrequently used, suggesting an area for exploration. CONCLUSION: Although there are important structural barriers to address, community pharmacists are increasingly positioned to contribute to care transitions, and there are numerous interventions that can be combined when creating new programs.
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Kooyman et al. (2019) conducted a systematic review in Care transitions (n=12). Community and ambulatory-care pharmacist interventions was evaluated on Interventions performed evaluated with the Coleman Care Transitions Intervention (CTI) pillars. A systematic review of 12 studies found that community pharmacists contribute to care transitions primarily by reviewing medications, resolving drug therapy problems, and providing education.
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