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Hantel A, Cernik C, Walsh TP, Uno H, Larios D, Slutzman JE, Abel GA. Assessing the Environmental and Downstream Human Health Impacts of Decentralizing Cancer Care. JAMA Oncol 2024:2819645. [PMID: 38829310 PMCID: PMC11148788 DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2024.2744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Importance Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from health care are substantial and disproportionately harm persons with cancer. Emissions from a central component of oncology care, outpatient clinician visits, are not well described, nor are the reductions in emissions and human harms that could be obtained through decentralizing this aspect of cancer care (ie, telemedicine and local clinician care when possible). Objective To assess potential reductions in GHG emissions and downstream health harms associated with telemedicine and fully decentralized cancer care. Design, Setting, and Participants This population-based cohort study and counterfactual analyses using life cycle assessment methods analyzed persons receiving cancer care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute between May 2015 and December 2020 as well as persons diagnosed with cancer over the same period from the Cancer in North America (CiNA) public dataset. Data were analyzed from October 2023 to April 2024. Main Outcomes and Measures The adjusted per-visit day difference in GHG emissions in kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents between 2 periods: an in-person care model period (May 2015 to February 2020; preperiod) and a telemedicine period (March to December 2020; postperiod), and the annual decrease in disability-adjusted life-years in a counterfactual model where care during the preperiod was maximally decentralized nationwide. Results Of 123 890 included patients, 73 988 (59.7%) were female, and the median (IQR) age at first diagnosis was 59 (48-68) years. Patients were seen over 1.6 million visit days. In mixed-effects log-linear regression, the mean absolute reduction in per-visit day CO2 equivalent emissions between the preperiod and postperiod was 36.4 kg (95% CI, 36.2-36.6), a reduction of 81.3% (95% CI, 80.8-81.7) compared with the baseline model. In a counterfactual decentralized care model of the preperiod, there was a relative emissions reduction of 33.1% (95% CI, 32.9-33.3). When demographically matched to 10.3 million persons in the CiNA dataset, decentralized care would have reduced national emissions by 75.3 million kg of CO2 equivalents annually; this corresponded to an estimated annual reduction of 15.0 to 47.7 disability-adjusted life-years. Conclusions and Relevance This cohort study found that using decentralization through telemedicine and local care may substantially reduce cancer care's GHG emissions; this corresponds to small reductions in human mortality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Hantel
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Colin Cernik
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
| | | | - Hajime Uno
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Dalia Larios
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
| | - Jonathan E. Slutzman
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
| | - Gregory A. Abel
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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Bryant AK, Lewy JR, Bressler RD, Chopra Z, Gyori DJ, Bazzell BG, Moeller JA, Jacobson SI, Fendrick AM, Kerr EA, Ramnath N, Green MD, Hofer TP, Vaishnav P, Strohbehn GW. Projected environmental and public health benefits of extended-interval dosing: an analysis of pembrolizumab use in a US national health system. Lancet Oncol 2024; 25:802-810. [PMID: 38821085 PMCID: PMC11177338 DOI: 10.1016/s1470-2045(24)00200-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/02/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Health care is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, leading to climate change and public health harms. Changes are needed to improve the environmental sustainability of health-care practices, but such changes should not sacrifice patient outcomes or financial sustainability. Alternative dosing strategies that reduce the frequency with which specialty drugs are administered, without sacrificing patient outcomes, are an attractive possibility for improving environmental sustainability. We sought to inform environmentally sustainable cancer care by estimating and comparing the environmental and financial effects of alternative, clinically equivalent strategies for pembrolizumab administration. METHODS We conducted a retrospective analysis using a cohort of patients from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in the USA who received one or more pembrolizumab doses between May 1, 2020, and Sept 30, 2022. Using baseline, real-world administration of pembrolizumab, we generated simulated pembrolizumab use data under three near-equivalent counterfactual pembrolizumab administration strategies defined by combinations of weight-based dosing, pharmacy-level vial sharing and dose rounding, and extended-interval dosing (ie, every 6 weeks). For each counterfactual dosing strategy, we estimated greenhouse gas emissions related to pembrolizumab use across the VHA cohort using a deterministic environmental impact model that estimated greenhouse gas emissions due to patient travel, drug manufacture, and medical waste as the primary outcome measure. FINDINGS We identified 7813 veterans who received at least one dose of pembrolizumab-containing therapy in the VHA during the study period. 59 140 pembrolizumab administrations occurred in the study period, of which 46 255 (78·2%) were dosed at 200 mg every 3 weeks, 12 885 (21·8%) at 400 mg every 6 weeks, and 14 955 (25·3%) were coadministered with infusional chemotherapies. Adoption of weight-based, extended-interval pembrolizumab dosing (4 mg/kg every 6 weeks) and pharmacy-level stewardship strategies (ie, dose rounding and vial sharing) for all pembrolizumab infusions would have resulted in 24·7% fewer administration events than baseline dosing (44 533 events vs 59 140 events) and an estimated 200 metric tons less CO2 emitted per year as a result of pembrolizumab use within the VHA (650 tons vs 850 tons of CO2, a relative reduction of 24%), largely due to reductions in distance travelled by patients to receive treatment. Similar results were observed when weight-based and extended-interval dosing were applied only to pembrolizumab monotherapy and pembrolizumab in combination with oral therapies. INTERPRETATION Alternative pembrolizumab administration strategies might have environmental advantages over the current dosing and compounding paradigms. Specialty medication dosing can be optimised for health-care spending and environmental sustainability without sacrificing clinical outcomes. FUNDING None.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex K Bryant
- Veterans Affairs Center for Clinical Management Research, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Radiation Oncology, Charles S Kettles VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Lung Precision Oncology Program, Charles S Kettles VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jacqueline R Lewy
- University of Michigan Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - R Daniel Bressler
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia Climate School, and Center for Environmental Economics and Policy, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Zoey Chopra
- University of Michigan Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Economics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Derek J Gyori
- Division of Oncology, Charles S Kettles VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Brian G Bazzell
- Division of Oncology, Charles S Kettles VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Julie A Moeller
- Division of Oncology, Charles S Kettles VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | | | - A Mark Fendrick
- Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Center for Value-Based Insurance Design, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Eve A Kerr
- Veterans Affairs Center for Clinical Management Research, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Nithya Ramnath
- Lung Precision Oncology Program, Charles S Kettles VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Division of Oncology, Charles S Kettles VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Michael D Green
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Charles S Kettles VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Lung Precision Oncology Program, Charles S Kettles VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Timothy P Hofer
- Veterans Affairs Center for Clinical Management Research, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Center for Global Health Equity, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Parth Vaishnav
- School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Garth W Strohbehn
- Veterans Affairs Center for Clinical Management Research, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Lung Precision Oncology Program, Charles S Kettles VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Division of Oncology, Charles S Kettles VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Center for Global Health Equity, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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