The impact of a student pharmacist‐led inpatient medication counseling initiative on medication safety in kidney transplant recipients

Abstract

AbstractIntroductionEngaging student pharmacists as pharmacist extenders to facilitate medication education may represent a unique pathway for preventing medication safety issues and mitigating downstream consequences in the high‐risk kidney transplant (KTX) population. The aim of this study was to describe the implementation and impact of a student pharmacist‐led counseling initiative designed to promote patient and caregiver understanding of transplant medications.MethodsThis is a single‐center, retrospective quality improvement initiative comparing adult KTX recipients who received interventional student pharmacist‐led education vs a historical cohort. Data on clinical outcomes, including the incidence of medication errors (MEs), adverse drug events (ADEs), and readmissions, was extracted from the patient's electronic medical record. In the intervention cohort, attendee satisfaction was assessed based on responses obtained from surveys distributed to patients and caregivers on the day they attended the student pharmacist‐led class.ResultsA total of 311 KTX recipients were included in this analysis; 149 in the intervention cohort and 162 in the historical cohort. Patients in the intervention cohort experienced more MEs than those in the historical cohort (31 vs 11; P < .001). Rates of ADEs within the first 30 days post‐transplant were comparable across cohorts (56 vs 52; P = .406). No significant difference in readmissions at days 7, 14, and 30 was observed between groups. Attendee satisfaction was high across all survey response fields.ConclusionThe results of this study demonstrate that KTX recipients who participated in student‐pharmacist led medication counseling had comparable rates of ADEs and readmissions to those who did not, but were more likely to experience MEs. Future research is needed to explore the role of structured medication counseling and the utility of student pharmacists in the clinical setting.