Impact of a pharmacist follow-up phone call on 30-day hospital reutilization rate after an outpatient transition of care office visit

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the impact of a pharmacist follow-up phone call after a post-acute care office visit within a transitions of care (TOC) clinic on the 30-day hospital reutilization rate. Methods: This investigation is a prospective, cohort study being conducted in an interprofessional TOC clinic consisting of physicians, pharmacists, and social workers. The goal of the TOC clinic is to provide a follow-up appointment to patients of the primacy care practice within 1-2 weeks of hospital discharge. Approximately 1 week after the TOC office visit, the pharmacist provides a follow-up telephone call to the patient to discuss any changes made at the TOC office visit and resolve any medication discrepancies. Data collection from the follow-up telephone call during September 2013 to October 2014 includes 30-day hospital reutilization rates, defined as a hospital readmission or emergency department visit within 30 days of discharge, number of medication discrepancies, number of patients triaged to a physician or nurse for new or worsening acute care concerns, and the amount of pharmacist's time resolving medication discrepancies or providing medication education. After the data collection, the proportion of patients having a 30-day hospital reutilization following the pharmacist's telephone call will be analyzed using the χ2 test with an α level set at 0.05. Results: Preliminary findings suggest a decreasing trend in hospital reutilizations for patients who answered the pharmacist's telephone call after the TOC office visit compared with patients who did not answer. In addition, of the 109 patients who answered, 36 patients did not follow the new directions given after the TOC office visit, 56 medication discrepancies were found, and 9 patients were triaged. The average pharmacist's time spent on the phone was approximately 3.6 minutes per patient.