Pharmacist-Run Medication Reconciliation for Veterans Admitted to Non-Veterans Affairs Hospice Care

PURPOSE: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase pharmacist involvement in the outpatient hospice transition process to improve care of veterans, prevent medication errors, and to ensure medications are provided to the patient via the appropriate pharmacy.METHODS: This project began with implementation of a pilot process for the pharmacist to complete medication reconciliation for each patient admitted to non-Veterans Affairs (VA) hospice care from the Omaha VA Medical Center. The second step of this project was completion of a retrospective chart review of the interventions made. Statistical analysis was completed via descriptive statistics.RESULTS: A total of 21 patients were eligible for this study. The mean age was 78 years. The average total number of medications per veteran before and after medication reconciliation for VA meds were 13 and 4 and for non-VA meds were 4 and 6, respectively. The average total cost savings for one fill of all medications changed to non-VA was estimated to be $40.08. The pharmacist noted on average 12.6 medication discrepancies during medication reconciliation per veteran. Just less than half of the clinical recommendations made by the pharmacist were accepted by the providers.CONCLUSIONS: All veterans admitted to non-VA hospice care had at least one medication discrepancy noted by the pharmacist during medication reconciliation. A majority of the veterans had at least one VA medication changed to non-VA since hospice was now prescribing and providing. The cost savings on average appear to outweigh the time spent on medication reconciliation by the pharmacist.