Impact of Pharmacist Involvement in Heart Failure Transition of Care

Abstract

Background: Heart failure (HF) transition of care (TOC) programs may improve continuity of care and coordination and decrease hospital readmissions. Objective: This study evaluated the impact of pharmacy-led HF TOC on HF readmission rate. Methods: This was a single-center, pre-post quasi-experimental study. Pharmacy TOC comprised admission and discharge medication reconciliations and patient education. Patients were included if they had a primary HF diagnosis. Patients were excluded if they were admitted for a non-HF diagnosis, admitted for <24 hours, had a stage IV cancer or dementia diagnosis, or were transferred to hospice care. The primary outcome was HF 30-day readmission rate. Results: A total of 663 patients were included in the study: 330 in the control group and 333 in the intervention group. The average age for both groups was 67 ± 16 years; 48.1% were female; 56.9% were African American; and 51.4% of patients had an ejection fraction ≤40%. In the control group, 57 (17.3%) patients had a HF 30-day readmission compared with 35 (10.5%) patients in the intervention group. After adjusting for age, the intervention group continued to show a difference in readmission (odds ratio = 0.578; 95% CI = 0.367-0.911; P = 0.018). The most common interventions were medication addition (11%), dose titration (7.5%), medication discontinuation (6.6%), and duplication avoidance (2.7%). Conclusion and Relevance: Pharmacy-led HF TOC, as a component of a targeted hospital-based initiative, significantly decreased HF 30-day readmission rate. Results from this study warrant further research to explore which interventions in TOC are most effective.