This study looked at 21 acute myeloid leukemia patients who had received a hematopoietic cell transplant and experienced relapsed disease. Each patient underwent salvage therapy with a venetoclax- based treatment regimen. Nineteen patients were assessed for treatment response and 12 of the 19 patients responded to venetoclax-based salvage therapy, leading to a 63.2% response rate.

Immunomodulatory therapies for multiple myeloma can increase patient risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). This phase IV single-arm study assessed the rate of symptomatic VTE over 6 months in 50 patients with multiple myeloma receiving immunomodulatory therapy and apixaban for primary prevention. No patients experienced symptomatic VTE or a major hemorrhage and 3 patients experienced clinically relevant non-major hemorrhage but were able to resume apixaban after medical management.

In this initiative, we evaluated outcomes following prescription of specialty dermatology medications in biologic-naïve patients. Of the 28 prescriptions evaluated, median time to approval was 9 days, with delays resulting from the need for a pharmacist to ascertain clinical data such as disease severity and treatment history.

In this study, we conducted a quality improvement initiative to increase the number of patients taking standard of care maintenance therapies, including cystic fibrosis transmembrane receptor (CFTR) modulators. With implementation of a specialty pharmacist directed protocol, rate of standard of care medication use increased for all therapies. The highest rate of increase was in CFTR modulator use.

In this case series, we discuss 7 males between 17 and 39 years of age who reported testicular pain or discomfort within the first two weeks of starting therapy. The precise mechanism of this side effect is unknown, but it may be related to restoration of CFTR function in the male reproductive tract. All patients experienced resolution of this side effect within a week after onset, regardless of the management, exception for one patient.

This article highlights the challenges in standardizing adherence methodologies as well as the key elements to consider when interpreting adherence results. Specialty pharmacies should consider using adherence measures to identify and intervene on patients with adherence challenges. In addition, integrated specialty pharmacies should work to link adherence to clinical outcomes and healthcare cost savings.

Because of the growing focus on outcomes research within Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy (VSP) and the need for more student research opportunities, VSP developed a longitudinal student research training program. This report describes the development and outcomes of that program as of June 2021.

Most institutions utilize a Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee to create a formulary for inpatient administered medications that promotes cost effective treatment options to reduce hospital related drug costs. Due to their high cost, most specialty therapies are omitted from inpatient formularies. We describe the non-formulary process developed at our institution to expedite and overcome challenges created by inpatient administered specialty medications.

This report describes VSP's development of an ASHP-accredited community based residency program in the health-system specialty pharmacy setting.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the implementation of a dashboard to prevent therapy gaps by prospectively identifying patients on biologic therapy needing a new prescription with outdated labs. The new dashboard was highly effective at reducing the number of patients with a therapy gap, number of gap days, and days to receipt of a new prescription. Pharmacists and nurses reported high satisfaction rates with the new dashboard.