Evaluation of the impact of a pharmacy transitions of care program

Purpose: Pharmacist-driven transitions of care interventions have been shown to improve patient clinical outcomes. However, the evidence in the literature on the impact of pharmacy transitions of care services on hospitalization and emergency department visit rates is inconclusive. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of a pharmacist-driven transitions of care program on hospitalization and emergency department visit rates at an academic medical center. Methods: This retrospective observational cohort study was conducted via pre- and post-intervention analyses. The data collection period included 30 days before the date of pharmacist intervention and 30 days after the date of intervention. The study evaluated patients who were enrolled in the Transitional Inpatient Rounding Experience (TIRE) program at Wake Forest Baptist Health between August 2017 and September 2020. Patients excluded were less than 18 years old, in hospice care, discharged to long-term care, or did not have a hospitalization within 90 days of intervention. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was utilized to analyze continuous data. Standard descriptive statistics were used for categorical data. Results: One hundred patients met the inclusion criteria for this study. For the primary outcome, the TIRE intervention resulted in a reduction of 31 hospitalizations, or 50% (62 prior hospitalizations in the 30 days before the intervention vs 31 admissions in the 30 days after the intervention; P < 0.001). There were significant reductions in the secondary outcomes of 90-day hospitalizations (24% fewer with intervention; P = 0.028) and 30-day emergency department visits (65% fewer with intervention; P =0.006). For the outcome of 90-day emergency department visits, there was a 36% reduction (P = 0.240). Conclusion: The results of the study demonstrate that a pharmacy transitions of care program may lead to a reduction in hospitalization and emergency department visit rates. The study also found potential cost savings associated with a pharmacy transitions of care program.