Adding Integrated Care Pharmacist May Reduce 30-day Readmission Rates

According to a poster presentation at the ASHP 2016 Summer Meetings & Exhibition, the addition of an integrated care pharmacists at a community hospital helped to improve care transitions, reduce 30-day readmissions, and reduce health care costs.

“Suboptimal quality of care during care transitions leads to increased hospital readmissions and costs that could be avoided,” Meagan Coughlin, PharmD, and Robert Moura, MS, both of Emerson Hospital in Concord, MA, wrote. “It is well reported that there is great value in having a pharmacist involved with transitions of care and to collaborate with the patient care team.”

The study was conducted after the Emerson Hospital pharmacy department was granted funding for an integrated care pharmacist through a state project grant. 

According to the poster, an integrated care pharmacist identified and worked with patients at high risk of readmission. Patients were considered high-risk if they had a complex medical condition or history of readmission.  The pharmacist monitored and reconciled medications for these patients at admission and discharge. The newly created position also conducted medication demonstrations for patients, attended multidisciplinary rounds on the medical floors, and conducted post-discharge follow up calls to ensure medication compliance.

After the researchers compared 30-day readmission rates of patients who interacted with the integrated care pharmacist with patients who did not, they found that rates were lower among the pharmacist-contact group (10.9% vs 22.8%).

The researchers also noted that patient satisfaction also increased among patients who received medication reviews and demonstrations from the pharmacist. According to the poster, professional satisfaction also increased among the medical team as a result of assistance from the integrated care pharmacist.—David Costill