Research Projects Page

This multisite national effort aims to identify measures deemed important and usable by specialty stakeholders that can be standardized and implemented in specialty pharmacy practice to ensure the safe, appropriate, and effective use of specialty medications in patients with RA. This poster describes the study methodology and response rate.

By utilizing an automated, electronic alert in the EHR, pharmacists were notified of 65 patients that had a clinically meaningful SIBDQ score drop and were able to intervene and complete 81 pharmacist actions. Patients on a standard dose of specialty medication or who did not have a recent/in process specialty medication change were more likely to receive more than 1 pharmacist action.

This study described initial abemaciclib dose, dose modifications, and time to modification for patients initiating a dose of abemaciclib lower than the FDA-recommended starting dose of 150mg twice daily for HR+, HER2- early high-risk and metastatic breast cancer between 10/12/2021 and 8/31/2023. Dose modifications were common during the first 12 months, with 96% of patients with a dose modification having at least one dose increase and 47% having at least 1 dose decrease.

This study aims to characterize the use of DAT in IBD and the specialty pharmacist role in medication access. The median time to medication approval was 11 (1-24) days. Patients with Medicare (Hazard ratio [HR] 5.0, p=0.003) and UC (HR 3.5, p=0.046) were significantly more likely to receive DAT approval sooner, compared to patients with commercial insurance and CD, respectively. Patients will be followed through 9 months to assess clinical outcomes and healthcare utilization.

This study evaluated baseline symptoms and disease characteristics in pediatric patients prescribed dupilumab for EoE, factors affecting time to insurance approval, and pediatric patient response to dupilumab for EoE in the first year following dupilumab initiation. Median time to approval was 2 days versus 22 days if initially denied. Patients with dysphagia at baseline were less likely to be denied. Dupilumab demonstrated high rates of clinical, histological and endoscopic improvements.

In a cohort study of 61 patients prescribed risankizumab (RZB) for Crohn's Disease more frequently than the FDA approved dose, almost half had improvement. There was a trend suggesting patients who failed multiple advanced therapies were less likely to improve. A third (33%) of patients had additional medication changes. With available data, improvements were seen in CRP (54%), ESR (46%), and HBI (56%) measures. This study provides the largest cohort of escalated dosing in RZB.

This quality improvement project evaluated a pharmacist driven lymphocyte monitoring dashboard for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) on fumarates. The dashboard alerted pharmacists to 8 patients with lymphopenia in the month following implementation. All alerts resulted in chart review and pharmacist interventions were documented for 2 patients. Pharmacist survey responses demonstrated pharmacist satisfaction with the dashboard and an improved ability to monitor non-HSSP patients.

his study evaluated biosimilar switches and patient outcomes (adverse events, worsening symptoms or flares, and dose escalations) in rheumatology or IBD patients who switched to an adalimumab biosimilar. Biosimilars were well-tolerated during the first 3 months of therapy with a low number of patients experiencing worsening of symptoms or flares. Many patients stable on adalimumab originator who switched to an adalimumab biosimilar required subsequent switches within 3 months.

This national survey evaluated the scope and depth of didactic and experiential instruction on specialty pharmacy (SP) in schools/colleges of pharmacy in the United States. Results demonstrate th SP-related topics are sparsely covered in current didactic and experiential curriculum. SP topics and electives are more common in schools with SP-affiliated faculty. Many schools recognize the value and growth of SP and the importance of SP-related education to meet growing workforce needs.

This quality improvement project assessed implementation of a letter template to expedite appeal letter submission. Pre-implementation, 29% of appeals were submitted within 3 days of PA denial, 70% within 7 days, 88% within 14 days, and 100% within 35 days. Postimplementation 89% of appeals were submitted within 3 days, 97% within 7 days, and 100% within 14 days. Appeal approval rates were high at 93% in both the pre-implementation and postimplementation groups.