CareOne, an operator of 29 senior centers in New Jersey, announced earlier this week a collaboration with Walgreens on a program that will provide day-of-discharge medications to patients before they leave CareOne facilities and return home.
The program comes as new payment policies under the Affordable Care Act aim to penalize hospitals for avoidable readmissions and CareOne looks to reduce their incidence via improved compliance with patient medication regimens once discharged.
"This new program will allow us to spend time with patients to help them understand what medications they are supposed to take, and why," said Mary Ann Barbato a CareOne RN, in a prepared statement. "Our program with Walgreens helps our patients get their medications before they go home. That means no delay or interruption in patient care."
[See also: CMS proposes policy and payment changes for rehab facilities.]
In most cases, patients fill their own medications after they are discharged from the hospital. Left on their own to understand the course of treatment for what is often more than one prescription medication, patients often don't take their medication properly, or never fill the prescription at all. This can result in a slower recovery for discharged patients, or at worst a rehospitalization.
Under the new elective program, Walgreens will deliver discharge medications directly to patients before they leave CareOne centers. Providing the medications prior to discharge will allow CareOne clinicians to educate patients and their caregivers before they return home.
The pilot program will begin in this month at the CareOne here, which will work with the Walgreens on-site pharmacy located at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in nearby New Brunswick.
"We think this is a great program to improve medication adherence and patient teaching at a critical time in a patient's recovery," said John Colaizzi, district pharmacy supervisor at Walgreens in a press release. "We are confident it will lead to better outcomes for patients in our shared community."