The Pharmacist Discharge Care (PHARM-DC) study: A multicenter RCT of pharmacist-directed transitional care to reduce post-hospitalization utilization.

BACKGROUND: Older adults commonly face challenges in understanding, obtaining, administering, and monitoring medication regimens after hospitalization. These difficulties can lead to avoidable morbidity, mortality, and hospital readmissions. Pharmacist-led peri-discharge interventions can reduce adverse drug events, but few large randomized trials have examined their effectiveness in reducing readmissions. Demonstrating reductions in 30-day readmissions can make a financial case for implementing pharmacist-led programs across hospitals. METHODS/DESIGN: The PHARMacist Discharge Care, or the PHARM-DC intervention, includes medication reconciliation at admission and discharge, medication review, increased communication with caregivers, providers, and retail pharmacies, and patient education and counseling during and after discharge. The intervention is being implemented in two large hospitals: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Brigham and Women's Hospital. To evaluate the intervention, we are using a pragmatic, randomized clinical trial design with randomization at the patient level. The primary outcome is utilization within 30 days of hospital discharge, including unforeseen emergency department visits, observation stays, and readmissions. Randomizing 9776 patients will achieve 80% power to detect an absolute reduction of 2.5% from an estimated baseline rate of 27.5%. Qualitative analysis will use interviews with key stakeholders to study barriers to and facilitators of implementing PHARM-DC. A cost-effectiveness analysis using a time-and-motion study to estimate time spent on the intervention will highlight the potential cost savings per readmission. DISCUSSION: If this trial demonstrates a business case for the PHARM-DC intervention, with few barriers to implementation, hospitals may be much more likely to adopt pharmacist-led peri-discharge medication management programs. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04071951.

Long-Term Efficacy of Oral Vancomycin Prophylaxis for the Prevention of Clostridium difficile Recurrence.

BACKGROUND: Limited evidence suggests that prophylactic oral vancomycin may be beneficial in preventing Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) recurrence, but long-term efficacy is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term efficacy of oral vancomycin prophylaxis (OVP) in preventing CDI recurrence in subjects who require subsequent antibiotic exposure. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at a community hospital. A total of 91 subjects with a history of CDI between January 2013 and December 2015 who had a subsequent hospitalization requiring systemic antibiotics within 12 months were evaluated. Thirty-two subjects who received prophylaxis with oral vancomycin were compared to 59 subjects who did not receive prophylaxis. RESULTS: CDI recurrence within 12 months was significantly lower in subjects receiving OVP compared to those who did not receive OVP (6.3% vs 28.8%; odds ratio [OR]: 0.16; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.04-0.77; P = .011) including patients whose previous CDI was an initial episode (3.7% [1/27] vs 28.3% [15/53]; OR: 10.3; 95% CI: 1.28-82.6; P = .009). CONCLUSION: Use of OVP in subjects with a history of CDI up to 12 months prior to subsequent antibiotic exposure appears to reduce the risk of CDI recurrence for up to 12 months.