Impact of a Transitions of Care Training Module on Community Pharmacists’ Knowledge and Attitudes

Abstract

Background: Community pharmacists' accessibility to patient histories and personal patient relationships situates them to have a potentially significant impact on transitions of care. Recent literature has demonstrated that improved patient outcomes and an overall reduction in health care costs occur when pharmacists are involved in medication reconciliation during transitions of care. Objective: To develop a transitions of care training module for community pharmacists. To assess the training module's impact on pharmacists' transition of care knowledge and their attitude toward actively participating in the transitions of care for their patients. Methods: Community pharmacists practicing in a supermarket pharmacy chain participated in this study. A pretest and posttest were administered around a 30-minute transitions of care training module. The attitude assessment consisted of a 5-point Likert-type scale, while the knowledge-based assessment consisted of true/false and multiple-choice questions. SPSS version 21.0 was used to generate descriptive and nonparametric statistical analyses. The study was approved by the University of Toledo Social, Behavioral, and Educational Institutional Review Board. Results: Thirty-six pharmacists (72%) successfully completed the pre-post survey. The average pharmacist posttest knowledge survey score improved from the pretest score, 73% to 99%. A paired Student's t test demonstrated the posttest percentage of correct questions on the knowledge-based survey improved from the baseline knowledge. Pharmacists' average posttest attitudes regarding participation in patients' transitions of care statistically improved compared to their pretest attitudes. Conclusion: Community pharmacists' transitions of care knowledge and attitudes can be improved through a training module.

Community Pharmacist Preferences in Transition of Care Communications

“…Survey results indicated community pharmacists have information that could be provided to the hospital or clinic, which may represent underutilized patient information. 11,12 This information included patient allergies, insurance, and medication nonadherence.…”

“…Community pharmacists are uniquely positioned to reduce medication-related problems and 30-day hospital readmissions through their knowledge of patient history, their personal rapport with patients, and the longitudinal nature of patient interactions. 11,12 Therefore, it is critical that there is effective communication among health-care providers in different care settings. 13 Patients visit their PCP an average of 4 times per year and have 9 outpatient visits per year with specialists; however, patients present to their community pharmacist 35 times per year, providing multiple opportunities to positively impact a patient’s care related to medication-related problems.…”