Grant allows Visiting Nurse Services to expand pharmacist services

PORTSMOUTH – Visiting Nurse Services announced that the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy has received a $78,000 grant from van Beuren Charitable Foundation to expand the PharmD Resident program of home care pharmacist services on the VNS home care team. Created and led by Virginia Lemay, clinical assistant professor at the College of Pharmacy, the expanded program – with an additional part-time pharmacist – will address the needs of VNS’ “high risk” patients in the home care population.

“High risk” patients are those who take 10 or more medications and likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days due to medication errors. The part-time pharmacist will help VNS’ home care patients reconcile medications, connect their care with community pharmacists and manage their medications properly as they transition from the hospital to home. This pharmacist intervention is expected to reduce hospital readmission rates within 30 days for these “high risk” patients who account for 50 percent of VNS’ new admissions. Avoiding hospital readmission is critical to these patients’ well-being and controlling their care’s costs, according to a VNS news release.

The collaboration provides an innovative, patient-centered program for improving patient care. VNS patients will be contacted within 72 hours of their hospital discharge and will meet at home with the pharmacist to review their medication and address any medication-related problems. The pharmacist will also serve as the drug information specialist for the nursing and therapy staff by answering medication-related questions, such as proper dosing and storage of medication. The pharmacist also helps to “close the loop” at the patient’s community pharmacy by educating the pharmacist about the patient’s transition of care, from hospital to home and enrolled in VNS care.

VNS has had a URI PharmD resident for the past three years on a one-day-per-week basis. This van Beuren Charitable Foundation grant enables VNS to expand the program with an additional pharmacist for 20 hours per week, or half time.

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For more information about VNS’ Pharmacy Resident program, contact Candace Sharkey at csharkey@vnsri.org.

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