The impact of follow-up telephone calls to patients after hospitalization

Medication report reduces number of medication errors when elderly patients are discharged from hospital

“…In a review of 22 studies the authors concluded that medication history errors are common at the time of hospital admission [17]. Different interventions have had some effect on the number of medication errors or emergency department visits [18,19]. We welcome studies that compare different interventions or combinations of interventions in this field.…”

Improved quality in the hospital discharge summary reduces medication errors—LIMM: Landskrona Integrated Medicines Management

“…The process involves comparing the Studies from the UK, Holland, Canada and the U.S. have been based on development of models for medication reconciliation at hospital discharge. This includes telephone follow-up by a pharmacist [12], and discharge summaries to pharmacies [13,14,[25][26][27][28][29] and to the general practitioner [27,28,30]. To our knowledge, our discharge summary is the first systematic tool enabling information to be produced for the patient and to the next level of care by the responsible person, the physician.…”

“…A review article reports that of the medication errors identified, 11-59% were thought to be of clinical importance [3]. Various types of medication errors are frequent in hospitals [4,5] and in the interface between care levels [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Insufficient quality in the transfer of information on a patient's medications has recently been highlighted as one of the most important problems in health care, and international and national programs have been developed for information and help [16].…”

Comparing the cost-effectiveness and clinical effectiveness of a new community in-reach rehabilitation service with the cost-effectiveness and clinical effectiveness of an established hospital-based rehabilitation service for older people: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial with microcost and qualitative analysis – the Community In-reach Rehabilitation And Care Transition (CIRACT) study

“…A number of these have been previously discussed and include patient safety, with high rates of medication errors, [17][18][19][20] incomplete or inaccurate information on transfer 75 and lack of appropriate follow-up care. 22 The transition coach will have addressed many of these issues; however, the frailty of this group of patients cannot be underestimated. Poor compliance with medication and instability of chronic disease are common problems and may require ongoing medical input in the community, which was not part of the CIRACT service.…”

“…The reasons for these readmissions are multifactorial, but an important component is the availability of appropriate resources in the community that are able to respond to the needs of these patients in a responsive manner. Patient safety is often compromised during this vulnerable period, with high rates of medication errors, [17][18][19][20] incomplete or inaccurate information on transfer 21 and lack of appropriate follow-up of care 22 collectively leading to fragmented discharge planning and increased rates of recidivism to high-intensity care settings. 21 In England and Wales, to address the problem of rising readmission rates, the Department of Health has allocated £300M as part of the funding for reablement linked to hospital discharge funding stream [see www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/215824/dh_123473.pdf (accessed 4 January 2016)].…”