Background and importance Pharmacists can utilise teach-back as a method to enhance patients’ understanding of medication counselling at hospital discharge. However, the evidence regarding its impact on patient outcomes is inconsistent, and there is no standardised approach in the literature to implement pharmacist-led discharge medication counselling, with limited descriptions of pharmacist training reported.

Aim and objectives To develop and implement a standardised discharge medication counselling service utilising the teach-back method, and to evaluate feedback from patients and pharmacists regarding the service.

Material and methods A standardised procedure and checklist were developed for the discharge medication counselling process. Participating pharmacists were trained on teach-back by undertaking an online education module and watching a video created by the research team which demonstrated teach-back. Pharmacists provided discharge medication counselling to patients using teach-back and provided a patient-friendly list of medication changes to take home. To attain feedback on the intervention, patients were surveyed via telephone within 7 days of discharge and intervention pharmacists completed an anonymous online survey.

Results Thirty-two patients participated in the study, with a mean age of 57 (19–91) years and mean Charlson Comorbidity Index score of 3 (0–8). Two-thirds of patients received medication counselling on antithrombotics. The mean counselling time was 24 min/patient (SD 12 min, range 7–60 min). All patients responded to the survey, whereby 94% had increased confidence regarding medication knowledge and 91% understood what potential side effects to be mindful of at home. Overall, 94% of patients were satisfied with the discharge medication counselling experience and with the information provided. Eight of the nine intervention pharmacists (89%) agreed they were given adequate training and that teach-back was feasible to apply in practice.

Conclusion and relevance This is the first study to evaluate patients’ perspectives on teach-back medication counselling by pharmacists. Despite the small sample size, the included patients were diverse in terms of age and comorbidities, and most patients experienced positive outcomes from the discharge medication counselling. With the standardised approach and a comprehensive description of the training, this study can be used to guide the development of discharge medication counselling services using teach-back in future.

References and/or acknowledgements The authors thank the patients and pharmacists who participated.

Conflict of interest No conflict of interest