Integrating a health information exchange into a community pharmacy transitions of care service

To describe the incorporation of a state health information exchange (HIE) into a community pharmacy transitions of care (TOC) service and to assess its impact on 30-day readmission rates.

Three suburban community pharmacies in Olathe, Kansas.

Balls Food Stores is a grocery store chain which operates 21 supermarket community pharmacies in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Balls Food Stores launched a pharmacist-led self-referral TOC study in which a state HIE was utilized to collect discharge information from patients' electronic medical records (EMRs) to facilitate TOC comprehensive medication reviews (CMRs).

Descriptive statistics were used to assess types and outcomes of identified drug therapy problems and the ability to access Kansas Health Information Network EMRs. A chi-square test was used to assess 30-day readmissions between patients who accepted and declined the service.

Forty patients were identified for inclusion and 18 elected to participate in the service. The majority of participants were white females with a median age of 64.5 years. Out of 40 study patients, 85% had an EMR available; 12.5% of patients had a medication list included in their EMR hospitalization documentation. Participants who underwent the service had a statistically significantly lower rate of overall 30-day hospital readmission than those who declined (11.1% vs 36.4%, P = 0.032). Among the 18 TOC CMRs performed, 90 drug therapy problems were identified and 77 were resolved in collaboration with a patient, caregiver, or physician.

Incorporation of a state HIE into a community pharmacist-led TOC service is a novel strategy for collecting patient data. During the study, no TOC participants were readmitted within 30 days. However, pharmacists found HIE data alone was insufficient to perform TOC CMRs for the majority of participants. In order to expand state HIE utilization, more health systems will need to upload a minimum standard data set to help facilitate care.