Research in social & administrative pharmacy : RSAP
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Res Social Adm Pharm · Feb 2018
Improving medication information transfer between hospitals, skilled-nursing facilities, and long-term-care pharmacies for hospital discharge transitions of care: A targeted needs assessment using the Intervention Mapping framework.
Patients transitioning from the hospital to a skilled nursing home (SNF) are susceptible to medication-related errors resulting from fragmented communication between facilities. Through continuous process improvement efforts at the hospital, a targeted needs assessment was performed to understand the extent of medication-related issues when patients transition from the hospital into a SNF, and the gaps between the hospital's discharge process, and the needs of the SNF and long-term care (LTC) pharmacy. We report on the development of a logic model that will be used to explore methods for minimizing patient care medication delays and errors while further improving handoff communication to SNF and LTC pharmacy staff. ⋯ The targeted needs assessment guided by the IM framework has lent to several planned process improvements initiatives to help reduce medication discrepancies during the hospital-to-SNF transition as well as improve communication between healthcare entities. Opening lines of communication along with aligning healthcare entity goals may help prevent medication-related errors.
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Res Social Adm Pharm · Feb 2018
Knowledge and attitudes to prescription charges in New Zealand and England.
Prescription charge regimes vary between countries but there is little research on how much people know about these or support values underlying them. ⋯ Gaps in knowledge, particularly about mechanisms to protect people from high costs, are concerning and may lead to people paying excessive charges. There was consensus about the elderly, children and the chronically ill being "deserving" of lower prescription charges, but people who did not believe in universal access to public goods appeared to see people on low incomes or benefits as less "deserving". In general, public views resembled those underlying the prescription charge regime in their country.