Category: Federal Forum Posters
Purpose: Within the VA Health Care System, patients may be referred to other VA facilities for procedures not available at their home facility. At San Francisco VA Health Care System (SFVAHCS), patients are referred from other VA facilities in California and Nevada for cardiology procedures including cardiac catheterization. Care coordination between facilities is essential to ensure continuity of care and clear communication. This quality improvement project aims to evaluate existing care coordination related to medications and to identify areas of improvement by examining pre-procedure preparation, post-procedure medication-related issues, post-procedure follow-up and handoff to home facility, and pharmacist interventions throughout the process.
Methods: This quality improvement project consists of three phases including a pre-implementation information gathering phase, a pharmacist-driven implementation phase, and a post-implementation evaluation. Phase I, the pre-implementation information gathering phase, will include an interview of stakeholders in the cardiology department who coordinate the care of cardiac catheterization patients. This will help to outline the typical workflow that is practiced in preparation, during admission, and after the discharge of cardiac catheterization patients. This phase will also consist of retrospective chart reviews of patients who had cardiac catheterization procedures in 2018. This chart review will include the gathering of demographics, procedure information, medication-related data, and follow-up information. An analysis of the information gathered in phase I will provide insight into gaps in therapy, medication-related discrepancies, and potential areas in which a pharmacist intervention would be beneficial. Phase II, the pharmacist-driven intervention phase, will take the form of a medication reconciliation phone call taking place pre-admission or post-discharge. Phase III will be the post-implementation evaluation of the Phase II intervention. This will include a chart review to determine the impact of the pharmacist-driven intervention.
Results: not applicable
Conclusion: not applicable
Karen Reno
– Pharmacy Resident, San Francisco VA Health Care System, San Francisco, CA128 Views