Improving Medication Adherence Through a Transitional Care Pharmacy Practice Model

Phase 2

Completed

• Conditions: Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive; Heart Failure

• Registration Number: NCT02047448
• Lead Sponsor: Wilkes University

Brief Summary

The purpose of this pilot study is to determine if medication adherence is improved by a transitional care pharmacy practice model designed to integrate hospital and community pharmacists in the care and education of patients with heart failure or COPD who are discharged from a community hospital to home. The hospital and community pharmacists will collaborate with each other, the patient, and other practitioners including the primary care physician, nurse, and case manager to prevent and correct medication-related problems and attempt to improve patient outcomes especially during the error-prone transition from hospital to home.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2014-01
• Study First Submitted: 2014-01-24
• Study First Submitted QC: 2014-01-27
• Study First Posted: 2014-01-28
• Status Verified: 2017-04
• Primary Completion: 2017-04-28
• Study Completion: 2017-04-28
• Last Update Submitted: 2017-04-28
• Last Update Posted: 2017-05-02

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 180

Inclusion Criteria

• admitted to hospital with a primary or secondary diagnosis of heart failure or COPD
• anticipated eventual discharge to home
• agreeable to participate in monthly counseling sessions (if randomized to intervention group) from a participating community pharmacist

Exclusion Criteria

• presence of cognitive impairment or dementia that would significantly prevent effective patient education and counseling
• non English-speaking
• anticipated discharge to a long-term care or skilled nursing facility on a permanent basis
• permanent long-term care facility residents
• surgical patients
• hospice patients
• patients who die within 30 days of initial study hospitalization

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Medication Adherence	6 months	The primary endpoint will be medication adherence as measured by the Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) calculation. This is calculated by dividing the total days' supply dispensed by 180 days. Medications considered in this calculation will include those used for the treatment of heart failure or COPD and known to improve outcomes. The composite PDC will be an average of the individual PDC for each drug class.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Patient Satisfaction	6 months	The Care Transitions Measure (CTM-3) is a validated survey to assess the patient's satisfaction with the quality of transitional care during hospitalization and will be completed by the patient following hospital discharge. The patient's satisfaction with the services provided by the community pharmacies will be assessed with the Consumer Experience with Pharmacy Services survey (© Pharmacy Quality Alliance).
Hospital readmissions or ED visits	6 months	Hospital readmissions are defined as an unplanned and overnight admission to the hospital
Medication related problems	6 months	Actual or potential medication-related problems (MRP) that are identified by the hospital and participating community pharmacists will be categorized based on an MRP classification tool.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Moses Taylor Hospital; 🇺🇸 Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States