St. Luke’s Cancer Institute Honored for Innovative Pharmacy Program That Gets Medications to Cancer Patients Quicker and Lowers Costs

BOISE, ID – St. Luke’s Cancer Institute is being honored this week for an innovative pharmacy program created to reduce prescription turnaround times, get medications to cancer patients even quicker and ultimately lower costs.

The Association of Community Cancer Centers named St. Luke’s as a 2020 Innovator Award recipient and will highlight St. Luke’s work during its annual National Oncology Conference this week. The eight award winners, including St. Luke’s, were selected for their leading-edge strategies to challenges faced by oncology programs and practices across the country.

St. Luke’s Cancer Institute was selected as a winner for the work done to improve the workflow around oral oncology prescriptions that resulted in reduced treatment delays. This pharmacy resident pilot project supported the creation and implementation of an oral oncolytic collaborative practice agreement (CPA) that expanded pharmacist scope of practice, decreased turnaround time for processing prescriptions and decreased patient prescription costs.

“Today, St. Luke's Cancer Institute’s CPA allows pharmacists to sign prescriptions on behalf of providers for interventions such as renal or hepatic dose adjustments, dose rounding, renewal of prescription refills, adjustment for toxicities, dosing based on appropriate indication and the ordering of laboratory tests and/or exams,” explained Amanda Wright, a St. Luke’s Oncology Pharmacist.

ACCC Winners were selected based on the potential of their program to have a real-world impact on the delivery of cost-effective, patient-centered care in the areas of care coordination and quality improvement, technology, patient engagement, innovative training and staffing models, the provision of supportive care services and collaborative practice agreements.

“The ACCC Innovator Awards honor a select group of cancer programs that have created forward-thinking, replicable solutions to enhancing quality cancer care, ” said Dr. Randall A. Oyer, MD, Medical Director, Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health and ACCC President. “The goal of the multidisciplinary cancer team is always to deliver care in the safest and most efficient way possible. The oral oncolytic (CPA) program at St. Luke’s Cancer Institute improves both patient experience and provider satisfaction, both of which are significant achievements."

St. Luke’s Cancer Institute has clinic locations in Boise, Meridian, Nampa, Twin Falls and Fruitland, Idaho. To learn more about St. Luke’s CPA Program, and watch a video: https://www.accc-cancer.org/home/about/awards/accc-innovator-awards/2020-winners/st-luke-s-cancer-institute