HOPA OCC and POPBC Collaboration: Data for Current Oncology Pharmacy Practice and Justification for Future Positions
Join us for live, virtual learning on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at 1-2:15 p.m. Central Time and earn 1.25 ACPE credit hours. Learn more below or register now.
Learning Objectives
- Describe available literature for pharmacist workload/time in oncology pharmacy practice and justification of clinical oncology pharmacist positions
- Analyze results from workload unit survey by POPBC
- Recognize how results can be incorporated into individual oncology pharmacy practices
- Identify unanswered questions and next steps to continue to progress oncology pharmacy practice while decreasing risk of burnout
UAN# 0465-0000-25-072-L01-P
About this course
Oncology pharmacists provide various pharmacotherapy-related clinical services. Pharmacy leaders expect the demand for oncology pharmacists and creation of new positions to increase in various settings to meet the need for the growing incidence of cancer and expanding complexity of cancer treatment. Despite this, there is a paucity of published studies quantifying oncology pharmacist scope, workload, and productivity.
The Oral Chemotherapy Collaborative (OCC™) and Practice Outcomes and Professional Benchmarking Committee (POPBC) have been working on projects related to justification of clinical oncology pharmacist positions. The OCC™ Return on Investment (ROI) subcommittee completed a literature search of available qualitative and quantitative literature regarding the contribution of clinical pharmacists to collaborative care teams in ambulatory settings. The few research studies attempting to define oncology pharmacy workload are either single-center, observational time-motion studies, or primarily focused on categorizing the type of interventions and quantification of pharmacist tasks. To address this gap, POPBC completed a project focused on establishing a consensus on the time required to complete specific oncology pharmacy tasks. The workload unit project results were endorsed by both HOPA and ACCP Hematology/Oncology PRN. The OCC™ ROI subcommittee plans to use the average time requirement for specific pharmacist activities established from this survey in an ROI model with the aim to justify community oncology pharmacist positions.
These projects provide examples of the excellent work and cross-committee collaboration carried out by HOPA committees to help support the oncology pharmacy workforce. This data may be utilized at the individual level to evaluate how expected job tasks may fit within individual work hours and at the leadership level to facilitate more informed, data-driven conversations, and may help mitigate the contribution of unrealistic workloads to oncology pharmacist burnout.
Authors
Dr. Lydia Benitez is a Hematology/Oncology pharmacy specialist at Michigan Medicine and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy. She is board certified in oncology (BCOP) and she currently serves as an adult leukemia clinic specialist.
Shawn Griffin is a Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy Practice at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences. Griffin also practices as a Board Certified Oncology Pharmacist within the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Program at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center where he has worked to create new pharmacist-provided clinical services.
Dr. Marina Kaymakcalan is an accomplished pharmacist specializing in oncology, with a focus on genitourinary cancers. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and is board certified in oncology. Since 2009, Marina has been a key figure at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where she serves as the Senior Manager for Oral Anticancer Education and Anticoagulation Pharmacy Programs.
Dr. Diana Tamer is currently a clinical associate professor for the UMKC School of Pharmacy and practices as a hematology/oncology pharmacy specialist at the AdventHealth Shawnee Mission Cancer Institute. Dr. Tamer is a Board Certified Oncology Pharmacist (BCOP).
Knowledge Course for Pharmacists
HOPA is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education.
To claim ACPE Credits the learner must complete all required activities, including the pre- and post-tests, and course evaluation. CE's will be reported within 1-2 weeks of completion of the credit claim activity.
Technology requirements: HOPA Learn requires a modern web browser (Internet Explorer 7+, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome) and the ability to listen to audio with the content.