Correspondence (reply): In Reply

We aimed to study the effect of a module-based intervention on medication and adherence after hospital discharge. The intervention measures were adapted to the requirements of doctors in private practice after optimized communication with the hospitals. We did not aim to study the effect of individual modules or to evaluate the benefit of medication checks; other studies have already done so (1, 2). Studies that were conducted in non-German speaking countries have shown that multifactorial problems at interfaces can be solved quickly by combining several measures in medication management (3).

By pointing out that the information event was not an intervention we intended to clarify that no substantial recommendations were given there—for example, on prescribing after discharge—but only information on the organizational approach to the structure and mailing of the discharge medication plan.

We intentionally selected the categorization in order to classify medication changes that in the assessment of an international expert panel may occur because of communication deficits at discharge between general practitioners, hospitals, and patients We considered medication switches as potentially risky only where it was possible for us to assess these on the basis of the clinical data available to us, as is made clear by the examples listed in eBox 2 in the article (4).

Many medication-related problems are based on medication changes at healthcare interfaces, and an effective focus on this seemingly short time interval in the context of a project seems sensible. Obviously this is not intended to replace general practitioner care—rather, it is meant to provide an adjunct.