Quantifying febrile neutropenia rates using electronic medical records in a large integrated delivery network

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Background: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a key driver of morbidity and mortality in oncology patients receiving myelotoxic chemotherapy. Identification and prophylaxis per guidelines can result in a substantial reduction of FN risk and is a key oncology quality of care measure. This project evaluated the feasibility of using electronic medical records (EMR) to quantify FN rates and characterize patients at risk for FN. Methods: Search algorithm was used in EMR to identify patients initiating oncologic care between 1/1/2016 and 12/1/2017 at the Masonic Cancer Clinic, University of Minnesota—Fairview Health System, for a lymphoid, gastrointestinal, breast, female genital, or thoracic malignancy. FN event was identified using a diagnosis of neutropenia (ICD-10: D70.x) with associated fever (ICD-10: R50.2-R50.9) or infection (ICD-10: A40.x, A41.x, B95.0-B95.8, B96.0-B96.8, T80.21-T80.29) during the myelotoxic chemotherapy course. FN rates were evaluated overall and by cancer type, disease status, prior chemotherapy use, select comorbidities, age, curative or palliative intent, and treatment plan FN risk. Results: A total of 1,123 patients receiving 1,663 myelotoxic chemotherapy plans were identified. Patients were predominately female (60%) with a mean age of 61 years (SD: 14.1). A total of 66 patients experienced 79 FN events. Of these events, 70 (88.6%) resulted in a hospitalization. The FN rate during the study period was 5.9% (95% CI: 2.3%-10.2%). Factors associated with the highest FN rates were: lymphoid malignancy (9.9%), non-metastatic disease (7.2%), no prior chemotherapy (6.5%), ≥ 3 comorbidities. Conclusions: Our findings indicate it is feasible to estimate FN rates using a search algorithm with a known FN definition in the EMR of a large integrated delivery network. While additional analyses are planned to account for concomitant patient characteristics to fully understand the occurrence of FN, the current project nevertheless demonstrates the ability of estimating FN rates to both measure care quality and allow pursuing quality improvement (QI) initiatives for appropriate FN prophylaxis. The results also have the potential to serve as a benchmark for similar QI projects in other large healthcare systems.

Biosimilar Products in the Modern U.S. Health Care and Regulatory Landscape

Biosimilars have the potential to greatly reduce medication costs in the United States. As of July 1, 2017, 5 biosimilars have been approved by the FDA, but only 2 are available for purchase. This commentary outlines the efforts of an integrated health system to ensure biosimilar accessibility and discusses the current challenges and future implications. We highlight the implementation of a health plan policy and how a health system's formulary committee can encourage use while considering provider perceptions and operational challenges. In addition, we provide our perspective on potential implications for pricing, site of care, and pharmacy dispensing practices based on our experience with regulatory hurdles and market trends. Overall, we believe biosimilars are a good thing for the health care system, but their expected benefit may not be realized for years to come.

DISCLOSURES

No outside funding supported this work. Affeldt reports advisory board membership with Janssen, and Skiermont reports membership with Amgen and McKesson. The other authors have nothing to disclose. Peterson and Budlong contributed the study concept and design and wrote the manuscript. Affeldt, Skiermont, Kyllo, and Heaton reviewed and revised the manuscript.