Pharmacy Study Hopes to Reduce Hospital Readmissions

US Pharm. 2014;39(7):6.

Cincinnati, OH— Being readmitted to the hospital shortly after discharge can place financial strain on not only the patient, but also the hospital system and insurers. Nearly one in five discharged Medicare patients is readmitted within 30 days, at a cost of more than $26 billion annually. Researchers at the University of Cincinnati’s James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy estimate that readmissions could be lowered up to 20% if, after a hospital stay, high-risk patients received counseling and medication management from a community pharmacist. The college is participating in a new study pairing 1,000 high-risk patients with community pharmacists. In a 2013 pilot study, patients who saw a pharmacist were less likely to be readmitted than those who did not.