Feasibility Study on Development of a Collaborative Monitoring System between a Hospital and Community Pharmacy Using...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Digital Health
• Pharmacovigilance

Background:

• Effective symptom monitoring is crucial for patients undergoing cancer treatment, particularly with targeted therapies like abemaciclib.
• Interprofessional collaboration between physicians, hospital pharmacists, and community pharmacists can enhance patient care and treatment adherence.
• Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome (ePRO) applications offer a promising avenue for real-time symptom tracking and communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a novel symptom monitoring system utilizing an ePRO application for breast cancer patients receiving abemaciclib.
• To assess the impact of the ePRO system on patient burden, anxiety, and healthcare professional burden and anxiety.
• To determine secondary endpoints including application implementation rates, patient messaging frequency, medication adherence, and adverse event incidence.

Main Methods:

• A prospective study involving 21 breast cancer patients initiating abemaciclib, 10 community pharmacists, and 5 physicians.
• Participants completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires assessing burden, anxiety, and satisfaction using a 0-10 numeric rating scale.
• Secondary outcomes included application input implementation rate, message counts, medication adherence (pill counts, MPR), and adverse event (AE) incidence and severity.

Main Results:

• Patients reported significantly reduced burden in symptom explanation and confirmation (p<0.005) and decreased treatment-related anxiety (p<0.001).
• Healthcare professionals experienced reduced burden in symptom monitoring (p<0.05) and anxiety regarding patient status (p<0.05).
• High application input implementation (94.3%), substantial patient messaging (316 alert, 426 free messages), and excellent medication adherence (94.7% pill count, 0.97 MPR) were observed. Grade ≥2 diarrhea occurred in 80.9% of patients, with no emergency admissions due to AEs.

Conclusions:

• The ePRO-based symptom monitoring system is feasible, acceptable, and beneficial for patients with breast cancer initiating abemaciclib.
• The system enhances interprofessional collaboration, reduces patient and provider burden, and supports high medication adherence.
• Further validation in large-scale studies is warranted to confirm these promising findings for digital health in oncology.