Walgreens WellTransitionsSM Provides Discharge Services to Help Hospitals and Health Systems Reduce Readmissions

Government penalties now being imposed for preventable hospital readmissions for Medicare patients

Walgreens program proves effective in reducing readmissions, lowering costs and improving patient outcomes

DEERFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Walgreens (NYSE: WAG) (Nasdaq: WAG) pharmacists are on the frontlines of a new transition of care program, WellTransitions^SM, which brings hospitals and health systems together with Walgreens in a coordinated care model designed to reduce readmission rates and overall health care costs, while improving patient health outcomes and medication adherence. The WellTransitions^SM program is being rolled out as thousands of hospitals nationwide now face possible penalties from Medicare for patient readmission rates that are too high, under a new law which took effect Oct. 1.

“Walgreens has proven to be a reliable and helpful partner in our attempt to provide excellent care to our heart failure patients while preventing readmissions.”

Preventable hospital readmissions cost the U.S. health care system approximately $25 billion per year.¹ According to a 2009 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, nearly one in five Medicare patients is re-hospitalized within 30 days of discharge.²

WellTransitions^SM has already been instrumental in helping to reduce patient readmissions. According to Washington Adventist Hospital in Maryland, of its first 48 high-risk patients enrolled in the program, only three were readmitted within 30 days of discharge.

“When a patient leaves the hospital with a new medication regimen, it can be overwhelming for both the individual and a caregiver,” said Kermit Crawford, Walgreens president of pharmacy, health and wellness. “Readmissions can be costly for the patient as well as our health care system. Through this program, our pharmacists work closely with hospital staff to oversee medication therapies and to help make the discharge process smoother, providing the care patients need during, as well as after being discharged.”

WellTransitions^SM is now available to patients at a growing number of locations, including Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (Fla.), Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park, Md., and Marion General Hospital in Marion, Ind. As many hospitals and medicals centers place a greater emphasis on reducing patient readmissions, Walgreens aims to broadly roll out the program to other facilities throughout the U.S., including many of the more than 150 hospitals and health systems where Walgreens operates an outpatient pharmacy.

The WellTransitions^SM program offers a number of services, including:

• Medication review – pharmacists review patients’ prescriptions upon admission to the hospital and at discharge; check for potential interactions and simplification of medication regimen
• Bedside medication delivery – Walgreens pharmacy staff member delivers medication the patient will need to take after discharge to the patient’s room and offers medication education and instruction
• Patient counseling – pharmacists provide medication counseling to both the patient and caregiver and work in close communication with the medical staff
• Regularly-scheduled follow-up calls – pharmacists conduct regular calls to follow up on patient progress, discuss regimen and answer any questions or concerns
• 24/7 pharmacist support – pharmacy staff is available to answer patient questions 24/7 either over the phone or online

Pharmacists also work with patients to ensure they’ve scheduled an appointment with their primary care physician and to reinforce important self-care principles, such as checking their weight daily and reporting any significant fluctuations to their doctor.

Walgreens and Sarasota Memorial Hospital have collaborated to improve patient care through various programs since 2009. The hospital recently implemented a WellTransitions^SM program, in which more than 180 heart failure patients have participated. The program provides patient services at key points during the critical first days following discharge, and while outcomes data is not yet available, hospital officials have recognized a trend of positive results.

Spence Hudon, clinical manager of Sarasota Memorial’s inpatient heart failure unit, said the health system began working with Walgreens with the introduction of a bedside delivery program several years ago. The bedside service ensured hospitalized patients could get their medications in a timely manner, and most importantly, remain compliant upon returning home.

“From that beginning, our relationship has grown to Walgreens participation in medication education and reconciliation, discharge phone calls, and calls to the patients later in the 30 days post-discharge for follow up,” Hudon said. “Walgreens has proven to be a reliable and helpful partner in our attempt to provide excellent care to our heart failure patients while preventing readmissions.”

About Walgreens

As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2012 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to become America’s first choice for health and daily living. Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 7,944 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.

1. Pricewaterhouse Coopers’ Health Research Institute, The Price of Excess: Identifying Waste in Healthcare Spending. Available at http://pwchealth.com/cgi-local/hregister.cgi/reg/waste.pdf. Last Accessed September 25, 2012.
2. Jencks, S. F., Williams, M. V., & Coleman, E. A. (2009). Rehospitalizations among Patients in the Medicare Fee-for-Service Program. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(14), 1418-1428. doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa0803563
3. Healthcare Intelligence Network, Reducing Hospital Readmissions: RNs Manage Medications, Care Transitions. Available at http://www.hin.com/library/ReducingReadmissions2009.pdf. Last Accessed September 25, 2012.