Having pharmacists make follow-up calls to patients several times after the patient is discharged from the hospital may improve care and cut down on hospital readmissions, according to new research.
A February 21, 2019 Reuters article described a recent study in the UK in which researchers compared outcomes among adult patients who received calls from pharmacists within one week of discharge, and again at one and three months, with patients in a similarly-sized control group who were not assigned to get pharmacist calls. The study found that patients who received all three calls were 78% less likely to have a repeat hospitalization within 30 days. At 90 days, the patients who received the calls were 66% less likely to be readmitted.
Michael Barnett, assistant professor of health policy and management at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Reuters that previous studies looking at the effect of follow-up interactions on patients have been of mixed quality and produced highly variable results. “I think in general we have learned that doing something is better than doing nothing, and comprehensive interventions seem to work better, but not always,” he said.
Read the Reuters article: Pharmacist follow-up calls could help curb repeat hospitalizations