Patients’ experiences and needs on the pharmacotherapeutic care during admission and transmural care after hospital discharge: A qualitative research.

Abstract

Background: Patients with polypharmacy have an increased risk of medication related hospital admissions. These admissions have a potential preventability. Studies regarding interventions to improve the transitional pharmacotherapeutic care are needed. The LIMONCELLO-study group has created such an intervention with a patient centered approach. Therefore, knowledge of patient experiences and needs during hospital admission is valuable to optimize the new intervention. Objective: The aim of this study is to gain insight into the patient experiences and needs regarding pharmacotherapy during hospital admission and to gain input from patients on the proposed intervention of the LIMONCELLO-study. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted from October 2022 until March 2023 using semi-structured interviews among elderly patients with polypharmacy of two Dutch hospitals. To identify barriers and facilitators during hospital admission and discharge, patients were asked questions focusing on barriers highlighted in previously research together with their view on the LIMONCELLO-intervention. Data was analyzed using the MAXQDA software. Results: Thirteen interviews were conducted. Four main topics were identified: barriers and facilitators during information provision about medication, attitude towards medication review, shared decision making and agreement of changes and coordination between secondary and primary care. Conclusion: The experiences and needs during transitional pharmaceutical care are diverse. There are several barriers and needs which show the question for improvement, such as the lack of information provision, the lack of shared decision making and problems in the coordination between secondary and primary care. Even though important barriers and needs emerged from the study, patients are already satisfied about different elements of the current pharmacotherapeutic care. The diversity of the needs and experiences shows a desire for a personalized approach in pharmaceutical care in the hospital.