Patient factors associated with time to medication receipt of oral anti-cancer drugs.

Authors

Morgan Lichtenstein

Morgan RL Lichtenstein

Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY

Morgan RL Lichtenstein , Melissa Beauchemin , Sahil Doshi , Rohit Raghunathan , Cynthia Law , Melissa Kate Accordino , Elena B. Elkin , Jason Dennis Wright , Dawn L. Hershman

Organizations

Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

Research Funding

Other Government Agency
NCI

Background: The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in the number of Food and Drug Administration approvals of oral anti-cancer drugs (OACDs). Most OACD prescriptions require coordination between providers, payers, specialty pharmacists, and financial assistance organizations, which can delay drug receipt. We evaluated median time to OACD receipt (TTR) from initial OACD prescription submission and assessed clinical and process-related factors associated with TTR. Methods: We prospectively collected data on all new OACD prescriptions for adult oncology patients at a large, urban outpatient cancer center from 1/1/2018 to 12/31/2019. We collected patient demographic, medical, and insurance data; prescription submission and delivery dates; and interactions with payers and financial assistance groups. TTR was defined as the number of days from OACD initial prescription to patient receipt of the drug. We estimated the median TTR across all patients and used multivariable logistic regression to identify factors associated with TTR above the median. Results: The cohort included 1080 patients who were prescribed 1269 new OACDs. Of these prescriptions, 84% (N=1069) were received, and 71% (N=896) required prior authorization. The median patient age was 66, 44% identified as Non-Hispanic White (White), 25% of patients had commercial insurance, 16% had Medicaid alone, and 58% had Medicare alone or in combination with another plan. The median TTR per patient was 7 days (IQR 0 – 142; 25% ≥ 14 days and 5% ≥ 30 days). In unadjusted analyses, insurance and race/ethnicity were associated with TTR. Compared with patients covered by Medicaid, those with Medicare and supplemental insurance (a partial, not free-standing plan) had nearly 2.5 times the odds of TTR >7 days controlling for other factors. Race/ethnicity showed a trend toward longer TTR with Non-Hispanic Black (Black) patients having a longer TTR compared to White patients, controlling for other factors. We did not observe statistically significant effects of either comorbidity or prior authorization requirement on TTR. Conclusions: Though the majority of oncology patients prescribed OACDs receive the drug, 71% of prescriptions required prior authorization and a quarter of patients waited at least two weeks. Disparities in TTR are primarily driven by financial factors, specifically insurance type.

Multivariable analysis: Factors associated with TTR > 7 days.


N (%)
OR (95% CI)
p-value
Insurance Coverage



 Commercial
222 (25.0)
1.28 (0.81 – 2.02)
0.29
 Medicaid
140 (15.8)
(Ref)
(Ref)
 Medicare
149 (16.8)
1.25 (0.78 – 2.02)
0.35
 Medicare + Medicaid
142 (16.0)
1.01 (0.62 – 1.63)
0.98
 Medicare + Commercial
73 ( 8.2)
0.75 (0.40 – 1.38)
0.35
 Medicare + Supplemental
146 (16.5)
2.45 (1.45 – 4.17)
0.001
Race/ethnicity



 White
391 (44.0)
(Ref)
(Ref)
 Black
128 (14.4)
1.53 (1.00 – 2.37)
0.05
 Hispanic
258 (29.1)
0.86 (0.59 – 1.24)
0.41

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2021 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Poster Discussion Session

Session Title

Care Delivery and Regulatory Policy

Track

Care Delivery and Quality Care

Sub Track

Care Delivery

Citation

J Clin Oncol 39, 2021 (suppl 15; abstr 1519)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2021.39.15_suppl.1519

Abstract #

1519

Abstract Disclosures

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