Effect of a Pharmacist-Led Discharge Counseling Service at a Children's Hospital.
J Pediatr Pharmacol Ther 2023;
28:116-122. [PMID:
37139249 PMCID:
PMC10150907 DOI:
10.5863/1551-6776-28.2.116]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/05/2022] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of a pharmacist-led discharge counseling service at a pediatric hospital.
METHODS
This was a prospective observational cohort study. Patients in the pre-implementation phase were identified by the pharmacist at the time of admission medication reconciliation, whereas patients in the pos-timplementation phase were identified at the time of pharmacist discharge medication counselling. Caregivers were contacted within 2 weeks of the patients' discharge date to complete a 7-question telephone survey. The primary objective was to measure the effect of the pharmacist-led service on caregiver satisfaction, using a pre- and post- implementation telephone survey. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the effect of the service on 90-day medication-related readmissions and determine the change in the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey response (Question 25) regarding discharge medications following implementation of the new service.
RESULTS
A total of 32 caregivers were included in both the pre- and post-implementation groups. The most common reason for inclusion was high-risk medications (84%) in the pre-implementation group and device teaching (62.5%) in the post-implementation group. The primary outcome, the average composite score on the telephone survey, was 30.94 ± 3.50 (average ± SD) in the pre-implementation group and 32.5 ± 2.26 in the post-implementation group (p = 0.038). There were no medication-related readmissions within 90 days in either group. The score on HCAHPS Question 25 was not different between groups (p = 0.761).
CONCLUSIONS
Implementation of a pharmacist-led discharge counseling service in pediatric patients improved caregiver satisfaction and understanding as shown by a postdischarge telephone survey.
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