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. 2015 Oct 16;21(8):10.18553/jmcp.2015.21.8.614. doi: 10.18553/jmcp.2015.21.8.614
Inclusion Criteria
Study design
  • (quasi) (cluster) Randomized controlled trial published in English

Population
  • Adult participants admitted to a hospital and discharged home

Setting
  • Intervention conducted in hospital and/or community pharmacy and/or patients’ home

Intervention
  • The intervention involved a pharmacist, pregraduate pharmacist, or pharmacy technician

  • The pharmacist had a proactive role, meaning for all interventions, patients received an active pharmacist intervention (e.g., excluding reactively responding to physician questions during ward rounds)

  • Interventions were performed before, during, or up to 30 days after hospitalization. The postdischarge time limit was chosen to ensure connection to transitional care

  • The intervention was designed to improve transitional care and aimed at medication-related issues

Comparison
  • The intervention was compared with a control group that received usual care

Clinical outcomes
  • At least 1 of the following outcomes was measured: mortality, readmissions, emergency department visits, and adverse drug events

Exclusion Criteria
Participant
  • Intervention conducted solely on pediatric patients or psychiatric patients due to their specific population characteristics

Setting
  • Interventions in a palliative care setting or in an intensive care ward due to their specific setting characteristics

Intervention
  • Interventions solely targeted at specific drugs (e.g., improving adherence of statins)

  • Interventions not aimed at transitional care (e.g., interventions in outpatient clinics without transmission of relevant information from earlier health care provider encounters in the hospital or interventions on heart failure guideline adherence)

PICO = participants, interventions, comparisons, and outcomes.