CARDINAL HEALTH FOUNDATION GRANTS PCHC $31,455 TO IMPROVE PATIENT SAFETY AT THE POINT-OF-CARE
PCHC announced that it has received $31,455 in grant funding from the Cardinal Health Foundation to improve medication safety for patients with heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Specifically, Penobscot Community Health Care will use funding from the Cardinal Health Foundation to enable a Pharmacy Resident to assess medications, self-care ability, and barriers and develop to individualized self-management plans for patients who are at high risk of using emergency department services or being admitted or readmitted to the hospital. During home visits, the Resident will provide education and support customized to each patient’s needs. The goal is to reduce hospital admissions and ER visits for PCHC patients with heart failure or COPD.
Felicity Homsted, PharmD, BCPS, Director of Pharmacy, states “We are thrilled to receive this grant from the Cardinal Health Foundation, because the patient-centered intervention it funds will help people live healthier lives by better understanding their medications and health conditions, ensuring they receive evidence based care and avoiding unnecessary healthcare spending.”
Since its inception in 2008, the E3 Grant Program has awarded more than 200 grants, totaling $6.15 million, to healthcare institutions across the U.S. to advance the effectiveness, efficiency and excellence of healthcare. The program has generated millions of dollars in cost savings, with the most recent grantees focused on reducing medication errors reporting savings of more than $11 million.
“We are encouraged by the impressive outcomes that previous grant recipients have made from the use of our E3 grants,” said Dianne Radigan, vice president of Community Relations at Cardinal Health. “There have been major strides in medication and OR safety leading to lower readmission rates, significant cost savings and, most importantly, better patient outcomes. We congratulate Penobscot Community Health Care and their work to achieve similar meaningful, long-term improvements.