Drug related problems after discharge from an Australian teaching hospital.

OBJECTIVE: To reconcile patients' medicines and to classify drug related problems identified during medication review conducted after discharge from hospital. SETTING: Patients were discharged from the cardiology unit of Westmead Hospital after recruitment into the Westmead Medicines Project which ran from 2004 to 2007. METHOD: This retrospective study involved an analysis of drugs, diseases and drug related problems in medication review reports available for 76 out of 85 patients who received a Home Medicines Review (HMR). Data sources for medication reconciliation and analyses also included hospital discharge summaries (n = 70) and GP referrals for HMR (n = 44). Comprehensive clinical profiles were constructed for the 76 subjects whose drug related problems were identified, coded, and then classified from their HMR reports. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number, type, distribution and international classification of drugs, diseases and drug-related problems. RESULTS: Patients were prescribed drugs for a broad range of cardiovascular, circulatory, endocrine, respiratory and digestive system diseases. Mean number of drugs per patient in discharge summaries: 8.7 ± SD 3.3 (range 3-19); in GP referrals: 8.9 ± SD 4.3 (range 2-23); and in HMR reports: 10.8 ± SD 4.0 (range 3-24). Mean number of diseases per patient in discharge summaries: 4.1 ± SD 2.9 (range 1-11); and in HMR reports: 4.7 ± SD 2.6 (range 1-12). A total of 398 drug related problems were identified for 71 (93.3%) patients with mean 5.6 ± SD 4.3 problems (range 1-21). The most frequently recorded problems were the patients' uncertainty about drug aim: n = 128 (32.0%); potential interactions n = 89 (22.4%); and adverse reactions n = 60 (15.1%). CONCLUSION: This study showed that patients recently discharged from a tertiary care hospital had a significant number of drug related problems. Classification of drugs and diseases revealed a broad range of non-cardiovascular medicines and conditions in the patients from an acute care cardiology unit. We found that home medicines review provided continuity of care and an opportunity for medication reconciliation which revealed marked differences in number of drugs, between hospital discharge and medicines review. The patients' uncertainly about their drugs and their diverse range of co-morbidities indicated the need for timely counselling by pharmacists in the community.

Quality patient care and pharmacists' role in its continuity--a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Continuity of care is important for the delivery of quality health care. Despite the abundance of research on this concept in the medical and nursing literature, there is a lack of consensus on its definition. As pharmacists have moved beyond their historical product-centered practice, a source of patient-centered research on continuity of care for practice application is required. OBJECTIVE: To determine the scope of research in which pharmacists were directly involved in patients' continuity of care and to examine how the phrase continuity of care was defined and applied in practice. METHODS: A working definition of continuity of care and a tool for relevance quality assessment of search articles were developed. MEDLINE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Collaboration evidence-based medicine reviews and bibliographies were searched (1996-March 2008). Reporting clarity was assessed by the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials checklist and outcomes were grouped by economic, clinical, and/or humanistic classification. RESULTS: The search yielded 21 clinical and randomized controlled trials, including 11 pharmacist-only and 10 multidisciplinary studies. A broad range of research topics was identified and detailed analysis provided ready reference for considerations of research replication or practice application. Studies revealed a range of research aims, settings, subject characteristics, attrition rates and group sizes, interventions, measurement tools, outcomes, and definitions of continuity of care. Research focused on patients with depression (n = 4), cardiovascular disease (n = 4), diabetes (n = 2), and dyslipidemia (n = 1); specific drugs included non-tricyclic antidepressants, cardiovascular drugs, and benzodiazepines. From the proposed endpoints of economic cost (n = 6) and clinical (n = 14) and humanistic (n = 16) outcomes, 15 studies reported statistically significant results. CONCLUSIONS: Medication management at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of care indicated an expanded role and collaboration of pharmacists in continuity of care. However, the exclusion of disadvantaged patients in 19 studies is at odds with continuity of care for these patients, who may have been the most in need for the same reason that they were excluded.