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A multi-method exploratory evaluation of a service designed to improve medication safety for patients with monitored dosage systems following hospital discharge.
Alqenae FA, Steinke DT, Belither H, et al. A multi-method exploratory evaluation of a service designed to improve medication safety for patients with monitored dosage systems following hospital discharge. Drug Saf. 2023;46(10):1021-1037. doi:10.1007/s40264-023-01342-z.
Miscommunication between hospitals and community pharmacists at patient discharge can result in incorrect or incomplete medication distribution to patients. This study describes utilization and impact of the Transfers of Care Around Medicines (TCAM) service post-hospital discharge at community pharmacies. An increasing percentage of TCAM referrals were completed post-intervention, but 45% were not completed at all or took longer than one month. The impact of the TCAM service on adverse drug events (ADE) and unintentional medication discrepancies (UMD) was uncertain. Future research may explore reasons for low/late completions or focus on high-risk medications, as those were associated with the most ADE and UMD.
