Timely Delivery of Discharge Medications to Patients' Bedsides: A Patient-centered Quality Improvement Project.

INTRODUCTION: Patients who are unable to fill prescriptions after discharge are at risk of hospital readmission. Ensuring that patients have prescriptions in hand at the time of discharge is a critical component of a safe and effective discharge process. Using a "Meds to Beds" program, we aimed to increase the percentage of patients discharged from Holtz Children's Hospital with medications in hand from 49% to 80%, reduce turnaround time (TAT) from electronic prescription signature to bedside delivery from 4.9 hours (±2.6 hours) to 2 hours, and increase caregiver satisfaction. METHODS: We formed a multidisciplinary team and implemented 4 patient-centered interventions through iterative plan-do-study-act cycles. Statistical process control charts were used to understand the impact of the interventions over 10 months. Hospital length of stay and discharges before 2:00 pm were used as balancing measures. We measured caregiver satisfaction using a telephone survey administered by pediatric residents within 7 days after discharge. RESULTS: The mean percentage of patients discharged with medications in hand increased to 76%. TAT decreased to 3.5 hours (±1.8 hours). Length of stay did not significantly increase, whereas the percentage of patients discharged before 2:00 pm did. Caregivers of patients who had prescriptions delivered to their bedside reported high levels of satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Using a "Meds to Beds" program, we increased the percentage of patients discharged with medications in hand, decreased TAT with reduced variability, and achieved high levels of caregiver satisfaction. Importantly, there was a shift in the culture of the institution toward improved medication access for patients.

Cardiac tamponade as the initial presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus: a case report and review of the literature.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that can involve any organ system, exhibiting great diversity in presentation. Cardiac tamponade as the initial presentation of childhood onset SLE (cSLE) is rare. We report the case of a 10 year old Afro-Caribbean female who presented with complaints of chest pain, shortness of breath and fever over 4 days. Clinical examination strongly suggested cardiac tamponade which was confirmed by investigations and treated with pericardiocentesis. After a thorough investigation, the underlying diagnosis of SLE was confirmed using the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) criteria and high dose corticosteroid therapy initiated. A review of recent studies shows that common initial presentations of cSLE include constitutional symptoms, renal disease, musculoskeletal and cutaneous involvement. In presenting this case and reviewing the literature we emphasize the importance of cSLE as a differential diagnosis when presented with pericarditis in the presence or absence of cardiac tamponade. In these patients early diagnosis and treatment is desired and in this regard we also discuss the sensitivity of the SLICC criteria in cSLE.