Cardinal Health Foundation Partners with NACDS Foundation on Grants to Study Link between Medication Management, Hospital Readmission Rates

PRESS RELEASE

July 16, 2013 (Arlington, Va.) — With the increasing focus on the public health cost of hospital re-admissions, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation in Arlington, Va., today announced a request-for-proposals (RFP) to research the impact of integrating community pharmacist-provided medication management services into the hospital discharge process.

The research opportunity focuses on patients with pneumonia, heart failure, acute myocardial infarctions, or other common conditions. It aims to evaluate the impact of medication management on readmission rates at 30-, 60- and 180-days post-discharge, and on adherence to discharge medications 180-days post-discharge.

“Too often hospital discharges lead to a revolving door of readmissions. Nearly one in five Medicare patients are readmitted to a hospital within 30 days of discharge, leading to $26 billion in wasted healthcare resources annually. Many of these readmissions are preventable, and as a result, hospitals are designing new discharge planning processes and implementing innovative intervention strategies to improve transitions of care,” said NACDS Foundation President Kathleen Jaeger.

“Medication non-adherence and adverse events attributed to medications are a leading cause of hospital readmissions. Consequently, medication management has been described as an essential component of any discharge intervention. Medication reconciliation, adherence to discharge medications and longitudinally tracking medication use as patients move into the community are critical to improve patient health.”

The Cardinal Health Foundation in Dublin, Ohio, is also playing a role in the initiative.

“The Cardinal Health Foundation supports a number of efforts that have led to improved medication adherence and patient outcomes. We are pleased to partner with the NACDS Foundation in this research project to further explore the impact of medication management in the treatment of chronic disease,” said Jon Giacomin, President U.S. Pharmaceutical Distribution of Cardinal Health and a member of the Cardinal Health Foundation Board of Directors.

Two research grants of up to $600,000 each are expected to be awarded.

The deadline for proposals is September 20, 2013, with award announcements anticipated for December 13.

For more information, contact the NACDS Foundation’s Alex Adams, at (703) 837-4232.