Bedside delivery of medications is a practice that is helping patients live more healthily following discharge from hospitals.
In addition to being helpful for pharmacist-to-patient communication, "meds to beds" programs are able to keep medications filled, even if individuals prescribed are struggling financially, by connecting the patients to medication assistance options.
"Our meds to beds team members were assigned to patient care units and participated in daily huddles to get a heads-up on what patients planned to go home that day," Maja Gift, administrator of pharmacy services at Tampa General Hospital, said.
Pharmacists are also able to customize follow-up visits, by helping the patients solve any problems or confusions that they may have.
Danielle Blais, pharmacist at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, feels that this service, properly executed, has the potential to better equip patients following discharge.
"The hospital discharge is a very fluid time for patients and medical staff, so making sure the medication list is complete and accurate before delivering it to the patient is crucial to the success of the program," Blais said.
Like any program, this will require fine-tuning, but Gift is confident that the necessary changes will enable the program to expand.
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