Presenting Author: Julianne Darling, PharmD, BCOP, Oncology Clinical Pharmacist, McKesson Specialty Health, The US Oncology Network, The Woodlands, TX
Co-Authors: Hilary Conkling, PharmD, BCOP, Alexa Basilio, PharmD, BCOP, Brittney Hale, PharmD, BCOP, Dan Kendzierski, PharmD, BCOP, Andrea Roman, PharmD, BCOP, Judy Cho, PharmD, BCPS, Stephen Farley, PharmD, BCOP, Caroline Farag, PharmD, Juna Jovani, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP, Belinda Li, PharmD, BCOP, Morgan Cantley, PharmD, BCOP, Meredith Keisler, PharmD, BCOP, and Melissa Carroll, PharmD, BCPS, Oncology Clinical Pharmacists, McKesson Specialty Health, The US Oncology Network, The Woodlands, TX; Natalie Greisl, PharmD, BCOP, and Elizabeth Koselke, PharmD, BCOP, Managers, ClinReview, McKesson Specialty Health, The US Oncology Network, The Woodlands, TX; Shannon Hough, PharmD, BCOP, Senior Director, Clinical Programs, McKesson Specialty Health, The US Oncology Network, The Woodlands, TX
BACKGROUND: Evaluating pharmacists’ value through novel metrics is becoming increasingly important in the face of drug margin compression in the oncology space. Trinidad and Patel evaluated the impact of oncology pharmacists in the ambulatory setting, reporting that 545 interventions over the course of 2 years resulted in an estimated 140 hours of provider time saved.1 This underscores the potential for pharmacists to optimize workflows while providing the same quality of care, potentially freeing clinician time for additional patient care.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the value of interventions made by remote-based clinical oncology pharmacists by quantifying the time saved for healthcare providers within The US Oncology Network (The Network).
METHODS: Clinical pharmacist intervention data were analyzed over a 2-week period to identify the intervention subtypes that saved provider time. A survey was developed with example patient scenarios for each intervention type and was sent to providers to validate the time, in minutes, that each type of task would take them. The median provider time spent by category was calculated. Standard criteria were used to prospectively document interventions as saving provider time. The data for 1 month were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and the provider time saved was calculated by multiplying the median minutes from the provider survey by the number of interventions categorized as saving provider time within that category.
RESULTS: Survey responses were received from 17 practices within The Network and included 61 physicians, 17 nurse practitioners, and 12 physician assistants. The median provider time saved for each intervention type resulted as follows: Business Office Support was 23 minutes, Drug-Drug Interaction was 8 minutes, Drug Dosing was 8 minutes, Drug Information was 23 minutes, and Supportive Care was 23 minutes. In October 2024, 667 interventions were recorded by 14 clinical pharmacists, with 353 (53%) of these interventions falling into categories with known provider time-savings based on survey data. These interventions resulted in a total time-savings of 4489 minutes (75 hours) for practice providers.
CONCLUSION: This analysis revealed that pharmacists’ interventions save a substantial amount of provider time. This saved time allows providers to dedicate more attention to patient care. Future directions aim to further substantiate these advantages and explore additional ways in which clinical oncology pharmacists contribute to the value of the healthcare team. By reducing the time providers spend completing medication-related tasks, clinical pharmacists enhance the efficiency of oncology practices. These findings emphasize the critical role of remote clinical oncology pharmacists in optimizing resources within The Network.
- Trinidad DM, Patel PR. The impact of embedded oncology pharmacists in an outpatient oncology center in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. J Adv Pract Oncol. 2022;13:673-682.