impact of a Pharmacy-Led Transitions of Care Program Within a Primary Care-Based Accountable Care Organization

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of pharmacist-led transitions of care program on 30-day readmission rates in the accountable care organization (ACO) primary care setting. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Two primary care provider (PCP) offices with an ACO in South Florida. PATIENTS, PARTICIPANTS: Adult Medicare patients who completed a post-discharge follow-up visit at two primary care offices within an ACO from July to December 2017. INTERVENTIONS: To supplement postdischarge visits with a PCP, the pharmacy services were also provided two days per week with a PCP. The comparator groups were patients who only saw a PCP or those who saw a PCP and pharmacist. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was hospital readmission or emergency department visit within 30 days. RESULTS: A total of 190 subjects were included. There were 113 patients in the PCP group and 77 patients in the PCP/pharmacist group. There was a reduction in the primary outcome when comparing the PCP-only versus PCP/pharmacist groups (6.2% versus 3.9%; P = 0.74). CONCLUSION: Involving pharmacists in patient transitions of care in the primary care setting may be beneficial as previous studies have demonstrated. Further studies evaluating pharmacy services in emerging health care models are needed in order to most effectively utilize the expertise of the pharmacy team.