Impact of a Student Pharmacist Pilot Focused on the Transitions of Care Process From Emergency Department Visits to...

Few would argue that emergency department utilization volumes do not tax the health system. Currently, there is not a process defined by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for transitioning this patient population back to their primary physicians following emergency department visits. Resource limitations in a rural family medicine setting create barriers to dedicate focus on this important transitional care management from urgent care visits to primary care office.

To describe a novel pilot process for transitional care management from the emergency department utilizing pharmacy student extenders to overcome resource limitation at a rural family medicine clinic and establish follow-up primary physician contact.

From a master list provided, student pharmacists proactively telephoned patients and reviewed medication changes while assisting with scheduling follow-up appointments at the patient's primary physician clinic.

The result of these efforts increased the communication with patients and resulted in a 26% (10/38) increase in follow-up appointments scheduled with a total increase of an additional 7 patients adhering to follow-up transitional appointment.

This approach utilizing student extenders is a feasible and sustainable process that can increase patient contact when resources are limited, while serving as an educational tool for next generation providers.