A medication discharge planning program: measuring the effect on readmissions

Repeated hospitalizations result in high costs and may occur as a result of patient errors in their medication regimen. To reduce rehospitalizations (hospitalizations within 31 days of the previous discharge), health care professionals have turned to the discharge planning process. Using Orem's theory of self-care, a medication discharge planning program was developed to provide instruction on the requisites necessary for medication self-care. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the effects of this program on readmissions within 31 days. Five nurses implemented the program for 54 patients with an admitting diagnosis of congestive heart failure. These patients were alternately assigned to a control or an experimental group. The experimental group received the medication discharge planning program. The control group received the usual informal discharge planning provided on the nursing unit. Eight (28.6%) of the 28 patients in the control group were readmitted within 31 days of the previous discharge. Two (7.7%) of the 26 patients in the experimental group were readmitted within 31 days. These results showed a statistically significant difference using Fisher's Exact Test (p = .05). Those receiving the medication discharge planning program were less likely to be readmitted, suggesting the importance of a medication discharge planning program.