Providing information about medication changes upon discharge from a geriatric unit: the community healthcare professionals’ point of view

Abstract

Introduction It is well known that polypharmacy is associated with adverse drug events. Accordingly, specialist geriatric units have to pay particular attention to the appropriateness of prescription and the withdrawal of potentially inappropriate medications. Even though community healthcare professionals are keen to received medication reconciliation results, the literature data show that the quality of communication between the hospital and the community needs to be improved. Objective To assess community healthcare professionals’ opinions about the receipt of medication reconciliation results when a patient is discharged from a specialist geriatric unit. Method We performed a qualitative study of general practitioners, community pharmacists and retirement home physicians recruited by phone in the Indre-et-Loire region of France. A grounded theory method was used to analyze interviews in multidisciplinary focus groups. Results The 17 community healthcare professionals first explained why the receipt of medication reconciliation results was important to them: clarifying the course and outcomes of hospital stays and reducing the lack of dialogue with the hospital, so that the interviewees could provide the care expected of them. The interviewees also described mistrust of the hospital and uncertainty when the modifications were received; these two concepts accentuated each other over time. Lastly, they shared their opinions about the information provided by the hospital, which could improve patient safety and provide leverage for treatment changes but also constituted a burden. Perspectives Our participants provided novel feedback and insight, constituting the groundwork for an improved medication reconciliation form that could be evaluated in future research. Exploring hospital-based professionals’ points of view might help to determine whether the requested changes in the medication reconciliation form are feasible and might provide a better understanding of community-to-hospital communication.