Effect of Pharmacy-Driven Bedside Discharge Medication Delivery Program on Day 30 Hospital Readmission

Previous studies demonstrated that transitions of care bundles, which include bedside discharge medication delivery (BDMD), may be helpful in decreasing hospital readmissions.

To evaluate the effects of BDMD alone on day 30 readmission rates.

Retrospective, cohort study comparing those who received pharmacy-driven BDMD to usual discharge. Primary outcome was day 30 readmission rates. Multivariable logistic regression was used to account for baseline differences between groups.

A total of 30916 patients met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of those, 2253 (7%) received BDMD and 28663 (93%) received usual care. Significant differences in age, distance from hospital, race, marital status, insurance type, previous hospitalizations, admission source, baseline comorbidities, and medication counts were observed between groups. Patients who received BDMD were less likely to have day 30 readmissions (10.6% vs 12.8%, P = .002). However, after adjusting for baseline characteristics, BDMD was not an independent predictor of day 30 readmission (adjusted odds ratio = 0.91, 95% confidence interval = 0.79-1.04, P = .17). BDMD was associated with decreased day 14 readmissions in an unadjusted analysis.

BDMD was not independently associated with a reduction in day 30 readmissions. Future studies should focus on targeting patients who are most likely to benefit from this service.