RESUMEN
PURPOSE: To describe the impact of an inpatient clinical oncology pharmacy technician program. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted to observe outcomes in patients discharged from the hematology/oncology or bone marrow transplant (BMT) units at Indiana University Health in the year before (April 1, 2016-March 31, 2017) compared with the year after (April 1, 2018-March 31, 2019) the implementation of expanded technician services. The technician performed admission medication histories and ensured access to discharge medications. RESULTS: There were 1,169 and 1,112 encounters included in the pre- and post-technician cohorts. The median age was lower (54 v 61 years; P < .001), and there was a higher percentage of male patients (62% v 52.3%; P < .001) in the pre- compared with post-technician cohort. There were a higher percentage of oncology (36.4% v 31%; P = .007) and no difference in hematology (37.4% v 40.2%; P = .17) nor BMT encounters (26.3% v 28.8%; P = .18) in the pre- compared with post-technician cohort. The discharge prescription capture rate increased (42.7% v 78.5%; P < .001) from the pre- to post-technician cohort, resulting in a 34.2% increase ($314,639.46 in US dollars [USD]-$422,129.20 USD) in retail pharmacy revenue. More admission medication histories were completed by pharmacy staff (64.4% v 91.9%; P < .001), and there was an increase in the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems-derived patient satisfaction results for both hematology/oncology (79% v 88%; P < .001) and BMT units (77% v 84%; P = .02) in the pre- compared with post-technician cohort. There was no difference in rates of unplanned readmissions (16.4% v 18.2%; P = .69) in the pre- compared with post-technician cohort. CONCLUSION: The overall capture rate of discharge prescriptions, revenue for the retail pharmacy, and patient satisfaction scores significantly increased after the implementation of expanded, inpatient clinical pharmacy technician services.