Patients who receive focused attention from pharmacists while leaving hospital care expressed higher satisfaction in their overall hospital experience, according to research presented at a meeting of pharmacists this week in Las Vegas.
Researchers studied 1,728 patients and the effect of pharmacists putting emphasis on educating them about their medications as they left hospital care. Pharmacists talked with patients about their medications before they were discharged and phoned them afterward to further discuss their care.
The study showed an increase of 14.7 percent in overall average satisfaction, measured by a survey that assesses a patient's perceptions of their care after discharge.
Readmission rates dropped 5 percent when post-discharge phone calls were made to patients in the study.
The research was presented at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists' 54th midyear clinical meeting and exhibition.
Read the full news release here.
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