Learning Objective #1: Assess patients’ knowledge about their medication therapy after discharge from thehospital

Learning Objective #2: Measure the association between knowledge and health service utilization in the community one month after discharge

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Patient counseling was found to be associated with compliance to medication therapy, quality of life, and utilization of hospitalization services. Despite this, the literature reports that patients are significantly deficient in their knowledge of their medications. Aim: To measure the association between patients' knowledge about medication therapy and the use of health services. Methods: The study population included 140 patients who received new medication upon their discharge from an internal medicine department. Patients were interviewed by telephone one month after discharge. The utilization of the health care services, the range of services used and reported compliance to medication therapy was evaluated. Results: Seventy percent of the patients used 3 of the health service options. The majority of them (88%) consulted their family physician; of these, 40% consulted with their physicians 3 times or more. Among the 60% who consulted a specialists, 35% underwent additional examination. Eighteen percent visited the ER, 35% of them visited the ER two or more times. Seventeen percent of the patients were re-hospitalized. A significant positive correlation was found between patient's knowledge about medication therapy and utilization of health care services (p=.01, r=.22), and reported compliance to medication therapy (p=.04, r=.17). Using regression analysis, the frequency of health care services utilization can be explained by patient's knowledge. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate an association between patient's knowledge about medication and utilization of available health care services. It appears that this knowledge contributes to an understanding of physical symptoms and their effect on the prevention of complications.