Video
Practice Pearl 2: Pharmacists’ Role in Managing Treatment for Patient With NETs
Megan May, PharmD, BCOP, and Cecilia Lau, RPh, BCOP, APh, discuss the pharmacists’ role in choosing the treatment plan for patients with NETs.
Daneng Li, MD: We talked about a multidisciplinary team approach. I’m curious to hear from both of you, Megan as well as Cecilia. What is your role as the pharmacist in terms of the care and decision-making for these patients?
Cecilia Lau, RPh, BCOP, APh: As Megan mentioned earlier, we need to support our institution in terms of our conversations and dialogues with providers, specifically when it comes to the appropriate medications to have on formulary. At my institution [City of Hope], the clinical pharmacist staff also works closely with our authorization department to ensure that all the necessary clinical information is properly submitted at the initial authorization submission to shorten the time to getting that authorization.
Of course, we also work closely with the nursing staff, the physician staff, and the patient. We help patients access the medication, and we help them pay for the medications because most of them do come with significant co-pays.
Megan May, PharmD, BCOP: Where I practice [Baptist Health Lexington], the clinical pharmacy is very similar to what you just heard. We are in the clinic with the physicians and the nurses every day, so if the providers have any questions about the newest data, they know exactly where to find us to discuss it.
Another role we have is when a patient is going to start treatment, the pharmacist is the 1 that is educating the patients on what the drug is, what adverse effects to expect, how to manage the adverse effects at home, and when to notify their provider of any issues they might be having. Throughout the continuum of care, if a patient is having an adverse effect and calls in, that call is routed to the pharmacy, so we can help manage any adverse effects from any of these medications as well.
