The pharmacist-driven protocol described in this study decreased PPI use in non-ICU hospitalized adults.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the United States has an estimated annual incidence of 515 000 new attacks and 205 000 recurrent attacks. 1 Although advances in treatment have decreased the number of deaths due to AMI, a large number of AMI survivors are being dismissed from the hospital into the community and are at risk for readmission. 2,3 Many factors may affect early readmission rates for AMI including comorbidities, environmental factors, insufficient discharge planning, nonadherence to medication therapy, and a reduced level of health literacy. 4 Heart failure, renal disorders, and pneumonia are 3 common readmission diagnoses following AMI, with heart failure being the most common. 5 Acute myocardial infarction has been identified by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission as a common, costly cause of hospitalization, with a high proportion of potentially preventable readmissions. 6 In October 2012, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act allowed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to begin penalizing hospitals with readmission rates greater than the national average for AMI, heart failure, and pneumonia. 7 As a result, 30-day readmission rates have become key quality outcome measures for most hospitals.Clinical pharmacists can help reduce hospital readmission rates. Pharmacists have the training and expertise needed to provide medication-related education and to resolve medication-related problems at discharge, which may reduce preventable adverse events, hospital readmissions, and visits to the emergency room. 8 Schnipper et al 9 demonstrated that pharmacist medication review, patient 551756P MTXXX10.