Impact of pharmacist and physician collaborations in primary care on reducing readmission to hospital: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Developing a pharmacist-led intervention to provide transitional pharmaceutical care for hospital discharged patients: A collaboration between hospital and community pharmacists

“…Through the literature review, 209 systematic reviews were identified, among which 18 were related to pharmacists' involvement in the transition of care. 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 Three additional articles were identified through screening references included in the identified systematic reviews. 7 , 43 , 44 The main outcome measures in the identified articles were 30-day readmissions, emergency department visits and length of stay.…”

“…Face-to-face communication is more effective than written communication in reducing readmissions. 31 , 33 , 43 Post discharge pharmacist follow-up with the patient (by phone or home-visit) No evidence for structured general follow-up by telephone. Should be combined with medication reconciliation, collaboration with GPs and should be tailored to patient's needs (e.g., with patient education/counseling as part of the follow-up).…”

“… 22 , 23 Additionally, GPs play an active and important role in relation to implementing any necessary changes in the post discharge follow up. 25 , 31 …”

Role of primary care pharmacists in the post-hospital discharge care of patients: a scoping review protocol

“…This can be crucial for patients with complex polypharmacy often at a time of vulnerability at post-hospital discharge. Thus the role of pharmacists in medicines optimisation as defined by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) [ 22 ] to ensure safe and effective use of medicines can often involve follow-up and liaising with other health care professionals, community pharmacists and or/carers [ 23 ].…”

“…Despite the heterogeneity and variation of studies of an uncontrolled nature included, this systematic review highlighted some valuable lessons to inform the future design and implementation of complex interventions as defined by the Medical Research Council (MRC) [ 30 ] and identify cause–effect relations [ 29 ]. Furthermore, in a recent systematic review, pharmacist collaborations with physicians have been researched and demonstrated effectiveness at reducing hospital readmissions with recommendations that further rigorous research is required [ 31 ]. This review was generalised to pharmacists in any sector, however little is known specifically about how primary care pharmacist colleagues or collaboration between sectors can have an impact on improving continuity of care across transitions.…”