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FarmaCenter: a platform for resolving pharmacotherapeutic queries after discharge from the emergency department

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European Statement

Clinical Pharmacy Services

Author(s)

BEATRIZ TORROBA-SANZ, CRISTINA ORTEGA-NAVARRO, ANA DE LORENZO-PINTO, CARMEN REDONDO-GALAN, JUAN ANTONIO ANDUEZA-LILLO, MARTA SANCHEZ-CELAYA POZO, ANA HERRANZ-ALONSO, MARÍA SANJURJO-SAEZ

Why was it done?

Almost half of the patients discharged from the ED receive incomplete information at discharge and they forget approximately 60% of the medical information received when they leave the hospital. All these hinders the proper management of medication at home, generating anxiety to patients and favoring the appearance of adverse events and new visits to the hospital.

What was done?

We have designed, implemented and evaluated a tool to resolve pharmacotherapeutic queries of patients discharged from the Emergency Department (ED).

How was it done?

Patients with doubts about the pharmacological treatment prescribed upon discharge can contact FarmaCenter through the instructions included in the discharge report (telephone/email). The pharmacist will then analyze each query, gathering information from the clinical history and, if necessary, contact the care-team for resolution. Finally, the pharmacist will contact the patient, resolve the query and offer the opportunity to complete a satisfaction survey.

What has been achieved?

766 consultations were received (November 2022- 31 August 2023), mean age was 49.8 years and 49.3% were men. The majority (96%) contacted by telephone and the mean time of resolution was 1.5 hours. Half of the cases (53.7%) were resolved by the hospital pharmacist without the necessity of contacting the rest of the healthcare team. The main reasons for consultation were: medication not prescribed (28.3%), drug administration (8.7%), management of adverse reactions (6.9%), shortages (6.8%), dosage (5.9%) and duration of treatment (5.7%). 15.5% of consultations were not related to medication. The satisfaction survey was sent to 288 patients and 40% responded. The overall rating was 4.9/5 and the most highly valued aspects were the individualized attention, fast resolution of the query and the pharmacist’s kindness. In addition, 95% of patients considered that FarmaCenter had helped them to avoid a visit to a healthcare center.

What next?

Developing improvement strategies to reduce the number of patients with medication-related concerns from the ED.

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