Report on Take-Home Cancer Medications
Recognizing the challenge and opportunity of take-home cancer medications, Cancer Care Ontario hosted a policy planning and consultation session in May 2014 with partners and stakeholders from across the healthcare spectrum. The event was called “Think Tank: Enhancing the Delivery of Take-Home Cancer Therapies in Ontario.”
Our objective: To explore, in an open and collaborative manner, how to enhance Ontario’s delivery model for take-home cancer medication by examining the following areas (or dimensions) for change:
- Reimbursement and distribution
- Information management and
- information technology
For a copy of the full event proceedings, email us.
What We Heard
Upon collectively considering all participant feedback, four primary themes emerged. Patients, healthcare providers and administrators want:
- A more integrated system — one that simplifies access to benefits, coordinates care across delivery location and ensures that all providers have access to relevant patient information.
- A more responsive system — one that delivers services efficiently, minimizing treatment delays.
- A system that is simpler and more comprehensive, delivering take-home therapies in a model with the same quality standards as hospital-administered treatment.
- A person-centred system to oversee access and quality of care, regardless of the site of care delivery. A single administrator should monitor access, safety and quality.
Suggested enhancements
For each dimension analyzed, participants suggested ideas to enhance the current Ontario delivery model for take-home cancer medications. Following is a summary of the key ideas, by dimension.
Quality and safety
- Provide comprehensive, multidisciplinary, standardized patient education
- Use an electronic method of prescribing with a standardized template
- Establish guidelines for safely prescribing, dispensing and handling take-home cancer medications
- Develop patient and provider tools to monitor adherence
- Create an infrastructure for patient support and side-effect
- Utilize an integrated error reporting system
- Provide specialized education, training and support to cancer healthcare providers
Reimbursement and distribution
- Resolve inequitable cancer drug funding
- Simplify complex reimbursement processes to support ease of access to timely, integrated quality care
- Identify best practices for value-based reimbursement
Information Management and Information Technology
- IM and IT solutions should support continuity of care
- Simplify the system and reduce its administrative burden
- Create a system for robust data collection at all points of care
- Determine the best drug distribution chain for Ontario patients