Patient Safety

Increasing Adherence and Reducing
Readmission Rates

Ebert M., Kidney transplant recipient

Studies show that patients who adhere to their medication regimens experience better health outcomes, but adherence can be challenging for patients. Major barriers to medication adherence may include low literacy, inadequate medication knowledge, language barriers, lack of social support, and financial constraints.

MedActionPlan PRO Provides Tools That Help Drive Adherence by Overcoming Some Barriers

Low Literacy

Written and formatted for 5th grade reading level.

Limited English Proficiency

Print in the patient’s preferred language.

Complex Regimen

Simplify into day-by-day schedule.

Poor Vision

Clear, easy-to-follow formats, including large fonts.

Forgetfulness

Automatically schedule reminders in a user -friendly mobile app.

Information Overload

Simple, easy-to-understand formats.

Over/under measurement with oral suspensions is a common problem

Today I had a parent who had difficulty understanding how to fill the syringe to the correct dose volume. I used the syringe function in MedActionPlan PRO to print a syringe schedule that showed the exact fill line on a syringe, which the parent understood very quickly. MedActionPlan PRO is an excellent patient education tool that helps educate patients and reduce medication errors before they can happen. Christy Buresh, PharmD Children’s Hospital & Medical Center Omaha, Nebraska

Improve Outcomes & Decrease Cost

Reduce readmissions

In a study conducted by Sharp HealthCare and Touro University California College of Pharmacy, MedActionPlan schedules became a key intervention by pharmacists, along with discharge counseling and resolving medication reconciliation problems. This study showed a 48% reduction in 30-day readmissions, and Heart Failure core measure 1 compliance rates improved from the 80th percentile to the 90th percentile.

Click the image to enlarge the results, or click here for more information.

Shorten lengths of stay

A retrospective analysis conducted at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children’s Hospital (PSHMC), found that reorganizing patient education and adopting MedActionPlan as the standard medication list helped reduce lengths of stay following kidney transplants by 56%.

The reduction in lengths of stay were estimated to save $279,180 annually. 

Click the image to enlarge the results, or click here for more information.

MedActionPlan Improves the Patient Experience

What do Patients say?

32%

INCREASE

in the number of patients who selected the top box in the Medication Communication category in HCAHPS surveys.

95.6%

chose the top box for Discharge Instructions

83.7%

chose the top box for RN Communication

What Do Users Say?

98%

saw improvement in patient care and medication adherence using MedActionPlan, and most said the improvement was “significant.”

96%

saw improvement in patient understanding of their medications

69%

said MedActionPlan improved healthcare provider efficiency

Leverage MedActionPlan Applications to Meet Your Patient Safety Initiatives Across the Transition of Care

Fulfill Regulatory Requirements

MedActionPlan PRO can help providers meet the requirements of healthcare standards organizations and other patient safety goals

Joint Commission Antimicrobial Stewardship Standard

  • Educational requirements for patients being discharged home on antibiotics

Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals

  • Maintain and communicate accurate patient medication information
  • Reduce the likelihood of patient harm associated with the use of anticoagulation regimens

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and UNOS

  • Transplant pharmacist must document that a medication education discharge program routinely occurs for each transplant recipient

HCAHPS Patient Experience Survey

  • Communication about a child’s medications

Partner With MedActionPlan Today

We work with healthcare providers, payers, and drug companies to improve outcomes and decrease healthcare costs.

Reference: 1. Shea SC. Improving medication adherence: how to talk with patients about their medications. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc, 2006.