Hospital discharge : Is information transfer from the hospital pharmacist to the community pharmacist useful?

Background: Upon hospital discharge, patients' treatment frequently differ from treatment on admission. In order to improve continuity of care, transmission of pharmacotherapeutic information would be helpful for community pharmacists. Objectives: To evaluate the interest of a "pharmacy discharge plan" to community pharmacists. Design: Prospective pilot study. Upon hospital discharge, patients with treatment modifications received a discharge plan, written by the clinical pharmacist and addressed to their community pharmacists. Two weeks later, the investigator called them to evaluate this document. Setting: Two teaching hospitals in Belgium. Main Outcome Measures: The Discharge Plan was evaluated with regard to: usefulness for continuity of care; quality of practical information given; feasibility in terms of time for hospital pharmacists; modalities of transmission; suggestions for improvement. Results: 18 patients were included in the study: 12 pharmacists received the discharge plan. 10 pharmacists thought the document facilitated continuity of patient care; 5 used it to counsel their patients; 10 pharmacists agreed with the modalities of transmission. The mean time needed to fill the document was 25 minutes. Suggestions for improvements were: to add more practical information (including on unusual drugs); to insist on treatment changes during hospitalisation. Conclusions: This study contributed to the creation of the first pharmacy discharge plan in Belgium. Although improvements could be made, results show that community pharmacists are receptive for this collaboration