Tracy just finished an inpatient hospital stay and started a new chemotherapy regimen that she was quite apprehensive about. Her clinical pharmacist called to check on progress of her new treatment. Tracy explained that she was so relieved to have her hospital specialty pharmacy’s additional assistance during this time, especially the personal clinical pharmacist calls. She revealed that when she was discharged from the hospital she felt out-of-control and overwhelmed with her new treatment regimen. Tracy told her clinical pharmacist that the inpatient setting made her feel safe, knowing there was always someone monitoring her for side effects and constantly checking her vitals. When discharged from the hospital, Tracy was concerned that she wouldn’t be able to catch any symptom changes or side effects on her own. She wished there was a way she could monitor her own health.

Hearing her concerns, Tracy's clinical pharmacist explained to her that one symptom that could be managed and monitored at home was her blood pressure. Wanting to make sure Tracy felt as secure and comfortable as possible with her new chemotherapy regimen, her clinical pharmacist reached out to the hospital pharmacy to get Tracy a blood pressure monitor. After she was set up with her new blood pressure monitor, Tracy and her clinical pharmacist discussed goals for her blood pressure, caveats of measuring blood pressure, and keeping a log of her blood pressure to bring to her future doctor’s appointments. When Tracy ended the conversation with her pharmacist she was on the verge of tears. She told her pharmacist that each time her hospital specialty pharmacy team calls to check in on her, she loses that feeling of fear she had when she moved her care to the outpatient setting. She is better able to be an active participant in her care and healing.   

Key Takeaways for Your Hospital Specialty Pharmacy:

• Customized Care: In a study done by the Shields Health Solutions Clinical Pharmacist team, a 52% increase in patient medication adherence was seen through customized clinical pharmacist interventions for high-risk patients.
• Fewer Readmissions: Having a Pharmacy Liaison and a team of Clinical Pharmacists supporting each patient throughout their treatment plan can result in 22% fewer readmissions for a hospital’s chronically ill patient population.

To learn more about implementing an integrated specialty pharmacy care model that delivers customized care at your health system, check out this case study article with Bronson Healthcare: http://bit.ly/2IPSUNh