The Role of Bedside Medication Delivery in Reducing Hospital Readmissions: A Quality Improvement Study

Transitions of care place patients at elevated risk for adverse events that may result in hospital readmission, including medication non-adherence after discharge. We sought to apply principles of quality improvement to improve medication adherence after hospitalization by implementing a pharmacist-led bedside medication delivery program at the time of hospital discharge. Our program was not associated with reduced 30-day hospital readmissions in the one-year period analyzed. We further stratified patients by demographic characteristics, insurance status, and zip code to better identify those at elevated risk of readmission or ineligible for enrollment in the program. After comparing our results with similar programs reported in the literature, we postulate that isolated bedside medication-delivery programs, as presently implemented, do not meaningfully reduce hospital readmissions in most cases. There is some evidence that these programs may benefit from being bundled with multi-faceted interventions in the future.