P2.289: Reducing Medication Non-Pickup Rates at Children's Mercy Hospital Pharmacy: Preliminary Data and Proposed Intervention

Purpose/Objectives: Medication non-pickup, also known as primary non-adherence, is a well-documented issue in healthcare. It refers to the failure of patients to collect their prescribed medications from the pharmacy and can lead to poor health outcomes, increased healthcare costs, and reduced patient satisfaction. We identified a persistent problem with medications not being picked up at our institution. Several studies have explored the factors contributing to medication non-pickup and the effectiveness of various interventions, which majorly depend on the specific obstacles influencing the medication pick-up. This prompted us to initiate a Quality Improvement project aimed at identifying actionable causes and designing interventions to reduce the number of medications left unclaimed at our institution’s pharmacy

Design/Methods: Aim is to reduce this ratio from 0.0085 to 0.0080, a 5% reduction, from April 2025 to September 2025. We did a detailed data for medications not picked up on December 24 and February 25.

Results: SEE GRAPH/TABLE. When removing all short-term prescriptions, the numbers were: December 24: 595, February 25: 578. From December 2024 to February 2025, we observed a decrease in outpatient visits, with the non-pickup rate unchanged, suggesting other influencing factors. Specific data for medications not picked up on December 24 and February 25 show variability across medication types. Pulmonary medications saw a decrease in non-pickup, while pain medications and antibiotics saw an increase.
At Children's Mercy Hospital Pharmacy, we conducted a root cause analysis and identified patient-related factors such as lack of understanding, high costs, and forgetfulness, as well as healthcare system factors like prescription errors and communication gaps. External factors like weather and insurance changes also contribute to non-pickup.
To address these issues, we will implement interventions including patient education, reminder systems, pharmacist outreach, and convenience services like home delivery and curbside pickup. Data monitoring and reporting are essential to track progress and identify areas for improvement. Dashboards and reports help visualize the data and communicate results to stakeholders.
Our interventions will focus on patient education and engagement, offering educational sessions and materials to help patients understand the importance of their medications and how to take them correctly. Reminder systems prompt patients to collect their medications, while pharmacists proactively reach out to patients who frequently abandon prescriptions, offering personalized counseling to address their concerns. Additionally, we will introduce convenience services like home delivery and curbside pickup to make it easier for patients to collect their medications.

Conclusion/Discussion: By implementing these interventions and utilizing Quality Improvement tools, we aim to significantly reduce the rate of medication non-pickup at Children's Mercy Hospital Pharmacy, thereby improving patient health outcomes and satisfaction. Regular data monitoring and reporting will help us track progress, identify areas for improvement, and communicate results to stakeholders, ensuring sustained success in reducing medication non-pickup rates.