Making the Way for Innovation

(W4) Cancer Drug Dose Rounding - Decreasing Drug Cost, Minimizing Waste and Improving Efficiency

Thursday, March 23, 2023

9:45 AM – 11:00 AM

Location: 301AB

ACPE UAN:0233-0000-23-016-L04-P | Contact Hours: 1.25 | Activity Type: Knowledge-based

Faculty(s)

Tracy McDowd, PharmD, FAMCP

Manager, Clinical Pharmacy
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
Hendersonville, TN
Vishal Shah, PharmD, MBA

Pharmacy Supervisor, Cancer Center & Investigational Drug Services
Mayo Clinic
Phoenix, AZ
Scott A. Soefje, PharmD, MBA, BCOP, FCCP, FHOPA

Director, Pharmacy Cancer Care
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN

Moderator(s)

Scott A. Soefje, PharmD, MBA, BCOP, FCCP, FHOPA

Director, Pharmacy Cancer Care
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN

There is a current mismatch between cancer drug dosing and the vial sizes, resulting in a significant amount of waste. Estimates are that the U.S. wastes billions of dollars per year. This session will review issues around drug waste, how dose rounding can reduce this, why dose rounding is appropriate, and how we can be more efficient in our care processes.

Faculty will present Mayo Clinic data on cost savings from a dose rounding program and show how using an automated dose rounding process can improve efficiency. They will summarize possible policy solutions to address the issue of drug waste and how institutions can begin to implement some of these now. The session will also include a payer perspective, reflecting and reacting to the work done at Mayo Clinic and how it may be applied elsewhere.

Learning Objectives::

At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

Explain reasons for cancer drug waste and the cost impact.
Discuss a rationale for why dose rounding is appropriate for cancer patients.
Describe how automated dose rounding within an electronic health record can improve workflow efficiency for an infusion center.
Identify policy solutions for addressing the drug waste problem.