The effect of pharmacotherapeutic counseling on readmissions and emergency department visits

Objective To evaluate the impact of pharmacotherapeutic counseling on the rates and causes of 30-day post-discharge hospital readmissions and emergency department visits. Setting The study was conducted at the Medical Clinic of University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia. Methods The study included elderly patients prescribed with two or more medications for the treatment of chronic diseases. The patients randomized into the intervention group received pre-discharge counseling by the clinical pharmacologist about each prescribed medication. The control group received no counseling. Main outcome measures The rates and causes of 30-day postdischarge hospital readmissions and emergency department visits. Medication compliance was also evaluated, using the pill count method. Results A total of 160 patients were randomly selected for the study. No significant difference was found in the readmission and emergency department visit rates between the intervention and control groups (p = 0.224). There were 34.9 % more compliant patients in the intervention group. Significantly more non-compliant patients in the control group were readmitted or visited emergency department because of the disease progression (p = 0.031). In the intervention group, significantly more patients were readmitted or visited emergency department because of an adverse drug reaction (p = 0.022). Conclusion Pharmacotherapeutic counseling can reduce readmission and emergency department visit rates for disease progression. Improved patient knowledge about adverse drug reactions could be the reason for increased rates of readmissions and emergency department visits due to adverse drug reactions in the intervention group.