Pharmacists in home infusion setting play key patient care role, study finds

Pharmacists in the home infusion setting have long been recognized as essential members of the healthcare team, responsible not only for the preparation and furnishing of medications and administration supplies, but also for the comprehensive management of patient care. 

Recent research, featured in Infusion Journal, highlights this critical role, revealing that home infusion pharmacists spend a comparable amount of time providing patient care for infused and injected specialty medications as they do for non-specialty (e.g anti-infectives) home infusion therapies.

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Among the key findings of the research:

• More than 70% of home infusion pharmacists’ tasks related to specialty infusion medications are dedicated to patient care.
• Care planning and patient assessments accounted for 42.45% of pharmacist tasks related to specialty therapies, compared with 21% of pharmacist tasks in a similar study of traditional home infusion therapies, suggesting that specialty medications, coupled with their insurance and coordination challenges, increase the need for detailed care planning and close patient monitoring.
• Pharmacists spend nearly equal amounts of time on tasks regardless of whether the medication is delivered by infusion or injection, suggesting that the intricacies of managing specialty medications require consistent levels of attention across different administration methods.

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• Pharmacists devoted a higher percentage of time to clinical tasks like care planning and patient assessment for self-injectable medications, suggesting that the nature of the medications and patient needs demand a more focused clinical approach.
• Nearly one-third of total tasks were dedicated to drug preparation, a task that requires precision and care, especially for fragile medications like monoclonal antibodies.

As the demand for specialty infusion therapies grows, so too will the need for pharmacists with expertise in the management of infused and injected specialty medications to ensure timely access, as well as safe and effective utilization. 

The study was funded by contributions to the National Home Infusion Foundation.