Organised by the FIP Hospital Pharmacy Section in collaboration with the FIP Community Pharmacy Section, the FIP Technology Advisory Group & the FIP Health and Medicines Information Section
Chair(s)
Dr Ryan Forrey, President, FIP Hospital Pharmacy Section, USA & Dr Shania Liu, University of Alberta, Canada
Introduction:
Improving transitions of care between hospital and home is a key priority area for the World Health Organization global patient safety challenge “Medication without harm”. Effective transitions are essential to ensuring continuity of care, preventing medication errors, and avoiding adverse events. This session will focus on innovative strategies to improve transitions of care between hospitals and home. This will also include models of interprofessional collaboration with pharmacists in line with the FIP statement of policy on interprofessional collaboration. After the presentations from experts, a concluding panel discussion will discuss practical approaches for integrating sustainable practices into pharmacy operations. The session aims to provide pharmacy professionals with the knowledge and tools needed to create seamless transitions of care to reduce preventable harm, improve patient outcomes, and alleviate the burden on healthcare systems.
This session will discuss strategies for improving patient safety and reducing operational costs, including the use of pharmacy students, support staff and technology, to improve medication management on admission and discharge to hospital.
There will be a focus on interprofessional collaboration on post-discharge medicine review services to reduce medication errors in countries that have regularly implemented such services. This will also include the rising role of digital health solutions in enhancing collaboration, sustainability and patient care.
The session will also include examples of health disparities that should be addressed to improve transitions of care in both pharmacy curricula and practice. Examples of successful implementations of pharmacy transitions of care services in the paediatric population will be provided to highlight issues of those that face healthcare disparities throughout all stages of life.
Programme:
| 14:00 – 14:05 | Introduction by the chairs |
| 14:05 – 14:30 | Expanding the role of the pharmacy profession to improve medication management on transitions of care |
| Associate Prof. Jonathan Penm, University of Sydney, Australia | |
| 14:30 – 14:55 | The role of community pharmacy in post discharge medicine review in Wales: An interprofessional, evidence-based journey |
| Prof. Efi Mantzourani, Cardiff University, UK | |
| 14:55 – 15:20 | Reducing disparities at transitions of care. Championing patient needs in pharmacy curricula and practice |
| Dr Amanda Cavness, Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, USA | |
| 15:20 – 15:30 | Panel discussion & closing |
Learning objectives:
1. To explore innovative models’ that pharmacy professionals can use to improve medication management at transitions of care.
2. To understand the role of transition of care stewardship to improve accountability and use existing systems to reduce medication errors at transitions of care.
3. To gain insights from experts on how to implement these strategies in diverse pharmacy settings.
Take home messages:
Pharmacy professionals can use support staff, students and digital technologies to improve transitions of care between hospitals and home.
Expanding the role of pharmacy professionals on charting, prescribing and discharge follow-up are innovative strategies to improve transitions of care.
Transition of care stewardship clarifies accountability and uses a strategic approach to implementing governance, interventions and tools that reduce variations in practice to improve transitions of care.
