Guideline-concordant use of olanzapine as part of a 4-drug antiemetic regimen for high emetic risk chemotherapy across the state of Michigan.

Abstract

6519 Background: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is a feared side effect of cancer treatment. If not adequately controlled, CINV can negatively affect both quality of life and increase the costs of care. Clinical practice guidelines from both ASCO and NCCN recommend inclusion of olanzapine as part of a 4-drug antiemetic regimen in patients receiving high emetic risk chemotherapy (HEC). Uptake of olanzapine has been low, however, in part due to oncologists’ lack of familiarity with the medication, lack of awareness or agreement with the guidelines, and lack of olanzapine inclusion on prepopulated order sets. Current labeling of olanzapine as an antipsychotic poses an additional barrier. The purpose of this project was to increase guideline-concordant prescribing of olanzapine as part of a 4-drug antiemetic regimen in patients receiving HEC in practices that are part of the Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium (MOQC), a physician-led consortium of nearly 90% of oncologists in Michigan. Methods: In 2019, MOQC began measuring guideline-concordant HEC prophylaxis with a 4-drug regimen of olanzapine added to corticosteroids, a 5HT3RA, and an NK1RA as part of its measure set. A quality improvement intervention was initiated that consisted of 1) dissemination of baseline measure performance and regular reporting of practice and state-level performance to MOQC practices, 2) information support through sharing of guidelines at biannual meetings (2019, 2022) and state-wide CINV education to improve prescriber knowledge and beliefs and support the practices in updating prepopulated antiemetic order sets, and 3) addition of value-based reimbursement in 2021 to encourage practice change. Measure performance was assessed using ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) program. Results: The patient sample included 5,703 patients. MOQC practices increased the guideline-concordant prescribing of olanzapine as part of a 4-drug antiemetic regimen in patients receiving HEC round over round from R1 2019 to R1 2022 (p<0.0001). Conclusions: MOQC has facilitated increased use of olanzapine as part of a 4-drug antiemetic regimen in patients receiving HEC through practice education, reporting, and value-based reimbursement. Ongoing work will focus on practices with low uptake and on demonstrating the impact of this important practice change on patient outcomes. [Table: see text]