Patient-reported experience with an immunotherapy telehealth platform

• Published in: Journal of clinical oncology Vol. 42; no. 16_suppl; p. 1637
• Main Authors: Daly, Robert Michael, Bange, Erin Mary, Doshi, Sahil D, Li, Bob T., Shah, Neil J., Aggen, David H, Kotecha, Ritesh R, Eng, Juliana, Ng, Kenneth K., Polubriaginof, Fernanda C. G., Kuperman, Gilad, Lipitz-Snyderman, Allison, Stetson, Peter D., Schrag, Deb, Panageas, Katherine, Morris, Michael J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.06.2024
• ISSN: 0732-183X; 1527-7755
• DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2024.42.16_suppl.1637

1637 Background: The Making Telehealth Delivery of Cancer Care at Home Effective and Safe for Immunotherapy (MATCHES-IO) intervention seeks to improve the efficiency and patient experience for those treated with single agent pembrolizumab. Because pembrolizumab is administered as an outpatient infusion every 3-weeks, patients require up to 18 clinic visits per year to receive treatment, which is arduous. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA granted accelerated approval for an extended interval dosing administered every 6 weeks, but despite this approval every 3-week dosing remains the standard (65% of prescriptions) as clinicians perceive this schedule enables them to identify and manage toxicity early. Telehealth may be the impetus to change the standard to the more convenient 6-week in person schedule, but evidence is needed. Methods: We conducted a single arm pragmatic trial to evaluate the efficiency and patient experience of a telehealth immunotherapy platform (MATCHES-IO) in patients with non-small cell lung, genitourinary, or melanoma cancers receiving single agent pembrolizumab. MATCHES-IO evaluates whether in-person visits for pembrolizumab therapy q6wk (rather than q3wk), with interim telehealth toxicity checks between in-person treatments, is more efficient and enhances patient experience relative to the standard q3wk infusion visits. The components of the platform include clinician-patient virtual visits, labs at home, biometric devices at home for vital sign monitoring, and electronic patient-reported outcomes to monitor for common IO-related toxicities. Patient experience was assessed after each MATCHES-IO televisit for up to two televisits. We measured experience with a patient experience survey that included the net promoter score, of how likely are they to recommend this intervention to similar patients (scale 0-10, higher score is desirable). A score of 9 or greater is considered excellent. Results: Between July 2023 and February 2024, 27 patients were enrolled, median age 68 (range 45–85), 74% white, 11% black, 11% Asian, and 41% female. Cancer types included thoracic (59% of patients), genitourinary (33%), and melanoma (7%). 19 patients (70.4%) have completed a MATCHES-IO televisit and completed the patient experience survey. The median net promoter score was 9 (range 2-10). 94% patients perceived a benefit to the MATCH-IO televisit including saved time (83% of respondents), patient convenience (83%), convenience for caregiver/family (44%), saved money (44%), and better monitoring of cancer and treatment (39%). 78% of patients found the at home visit less stressful than the in-person visit. Conclusions: Patients endorsed an enhanced experience with an immunotherapy telehealth platform for extended dosing of pembrolizumab. Further follow-up is needed to confirm these experience findings and determine whether this platform improved efficiency through fewer in-person visits.