Background Adherence to oral endocrine therapy (OET) is crucial in ensuring its maximum benefit in prevention and treatment of hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer (BC) in patients. Medication use behavior is suboptimal especially in racial/ethnic minorities of lower socioeconomic status (SES). We aimed to assess the OET adherence and its predictors in racial/ethnic minority patients of lower SES. Aim We aimed to assess the OET adherence and determine the predictors of OET nonadherence in racial/ethnic minority patients of lower SES. Method A retrospective study was conducted at the Harris Health System in Houston, Texas. Since the study period included the COVID-19 pandemic, data was collected during the 6 months prior and 6 months after the start of the pandemic. The adherence was assessed using the prescription refill data using the proportion of days covered. Multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify predictors of nonadherence. Eighteen years or older patients on appropriate doses of OET for prevention or treatment of BC were included. Result In 258 patients, the adherence was significantly lower during the pandemic (44%) compared to before the pandemic (57%). The predictors of OET nonadherence before the pandemic were Black/African American, obesity/extreme obesity, prevention setting, tamoxifen therapy, and 4 or more years on OET. During the pandemic, prevention setting and those not using home delivery were more likely to be nonadherent. Conclusion Racial/ethnic minority patients of lower SES, especially African Americans and those using OET for prevention of BC, require individualized interventions to improve adherence.

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210 Background: Delays in initiating inpatient (inpt) chemotherapy (chemo) for planned admissions can decrease patient (pt) satisfaction and increase length of stay and healthcare costs. Our center, a community public teaching hospital, lacked clear standard operating procedures for scheduled chemo admissions, resulting in significant delays. We developed a process improvement initiative to reduce the pt wait time from admission to chemo administration (time to chemo [TTC]). Methods: A multidisciplinary team was formed to clarify workflows and identify root causes prolonging wait times for pts admitted to the inpt chemo unit. We implemented two Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles over a 6-month period. First, in early March, we collaborated with pharmacy and nursing to standardize the inpt chemo operating procedures and extend pharmacy’s evening hours for chemo preparation (prep) from 7pm to 9pm. Second, in early June, we implemented a Pre-admission Checklist that was visibly displayed in clinic for fellows to review with faculty, and began discussing pts scheduled for admission during the daily, multidisciplinary huddle that already occurred on the inpt chemo unit. Using the electronic medical record and available time stamps, baseline data was collected from November-December 2019, post-intervention data for PDSA cycle 1 was collected from March-April 2020, and data collection for PDSA cycle 2 is ongoing. Results: Root cause analysis identified late afternoon admissions and PICC line placements as two main sources for TTC delays. Hospital procedures also limited inpt PICC line placement between 8am-4pm and inpt chemo prep between 7am-7pm. Baseline data revealed 77.4% (24/31) of pts were admitted between 3pm-10pm, the median TTC was 20.4 hrs, and 6.5% (2/31) of pts had chemotherapy initiated within 12 hrs of admission (TTC < 12). Additionally, 56.5% (26/46) of pts had PICC lines placed during their admission, but 69.2% (18/26) of the pts with PICC lines were eligible for outpatient port placement according to institutional intravenous (IV) access guidelines. After PDSA cycle 1, median TTC decreased by 10% to 18.4 hrs, and 33.3% (5/15) of pts had TTC < 12. Conclusions: After standardizing inpt chemo procedures and extending chemo prep times, PDSA cycle 1 resulted in a 10% reduction in TTC and a 26.8% increase in the rate of TTC < 12. Although admission times cannot be controlled at this time, the impact of improving pre-admission planning, and specifically addressing IV access, for PDSA cycle 2 is currently being evaluated and will be reported at the time of abstract presentation.

Purpose Due to the multifaceted chemotherapy workflow within the hospital, many patients often experience delays in receiving their treatment. This study aims to evaluate the causes for chemotherapy administration delays and implement new methods to reduce delays from order release to chemotherapy administration on an inpatient oncology unit at a community-focused academic medical center. Methods In this prospective quality improvement study, we developed a process map to track baseline time stamps and utilized performance improvement tools to identify causes for chemotherapy delays. Based on recognized areas for improvement, the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model was used to implement one cycle of interventions. Chemotherapy orders were collected, and benchmark time stamps were documented from the electronic medical record. Results The primary outcome for the number of chemotherapy delays, based on compliance rate, was reduced from 63/100 (63.0%) to 48/100 (48.0%), a 15% reduction (p = 0.046). Our primary outcome of chemotherapy delays, based on our institutional benchmark of <3 hours, did not show statistical significance. Median time from chemotherapy order release to administration decreased from 7.08 hours at baseline to 6.10 hours post-intervention, a 13.8% reduction (p < 0.0001). Median verification, preparation, and delivery times were all reduced post-intervention by 13.0% (p < 0.0001), 3.9% (p = 0.024), and 14.8% (p < 0.0001) respectively. Conclusions This study allowed our institution to evaluate our current practice and reformulate the chemotherapy administration process. With the continuing education on the chemotherapy administration process and additional PDSA cycle interventions, it will help standardize our process and ultimately continue to reduce chemotherapy delays.

Introduction: Medication adherence is important in ensuring the maximum effect of oral endocrine therapy (OET) in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer (HR+ BC) patients. Low medication adherence is more seen in racial and ethnic minority patients of lower socioeconomic status. COVID-19 pandemic has further introduced complexities that have impacted patients’ medication-use behaviors. Our goal was to (1) assess the medication adherence to OET in racial and ethnic minority patients of lower socioeconomic status with HR+ BC and (2) assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their OET adherence. Patients and Methods: A retrospective, single-center study from September 2019 through September 2020 was conducted. The primary endpoint was adherence rate during the 6 months prior (September 2019 - February 2020) and 6 months after (April 2020 - September 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic started in the United States. The following three racial/ethnic groups were compared: Non-Hispanic White/Caucasian, Black/African American, and Hispanic/Latino. Chi-Square and Student’s t-tests were used to compare the adherent and nonadherent groups. The secondary endpoint was to identify predictors of nonadherence to OET. Multivariable logistic regression model was used to assess predictors of nonadherence. Results: Out of 270 patients, a total of 251 patients had a refill for an OET before COVID-19 with a mean proportion of days covered (PDC) of 0.72%. Of these, 140 (55.78%) were adherent and 111 (44.22%) were nonadherent. A total of 194 patients had a refill for an OET during COVID-19 with a mean PDC of 0.67%. Of these, 83 (42.78%) were adherent and 111 (57.22%) were nonadherent. A total of 187 patients had a refill for OET before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a significant difference in the adherence before and during the pandemic when PDC was used as a continuous (p &lt;0.0001, Student’s paired t-test) or a categorical variable (p &lt;0.0001, McNemar chi-square test). In a multivariate analysis of data before the pandemic, Black/African American and White/Caucasian were less likely to be adherent compared to Hispanic/Latino (Black/African American: odds ratio [OR], 0.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18-0.723; White/Caucasian: OR, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.074-0.853). Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) were more likely to be adherent compared to patients without DM (OR, 2.364; 95% CI, 1.199-4.662), and patients with hypertension (HTN) were less likely to be adherent compared to patients without HTN (OR, 0.481; 95% CI, 0.236-0.981). Patients who were prescribed aromatase inhibitors were more likely to be adherent compared to patients that were prescribed tamoxifen (OR, 0.484; 95% CI, 0.235-0.998). Patients diagnosed with invasive BC (stages 1-4) were more likely to be adherent compared to those diagnosed with non-invasive (in situ) tumors or ductal/lobular hyperplasia. During the pandemic, patients who used home delivery were more likely to be adherent compared to those who did not use home delivery (OR, 11.574; 95% CI, 2.45-54.55). There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients using home delivery between different racial and ethnic groups. Conclusion: OET adherence was reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic in racial and ethnic minority patients with low socioeconomic status. Tamoxifen therapy, Black/African American, and White/Caucasian origin, not having DM, having HTN, and diagnosed with non-invasive BC were associated with OET nonadherence in patients before the COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas, not using home delivery for OET medications predicted nonadherence in patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Citation Format: Sama Rahimi, Onyebuchi Ononogbu, Anjana Mohan, Daniel Moussa, Susan Abughosh, Meghana V Trivedi. Predictors of adherence to oral endocrine therapy in racial and ethnic minority patients with low socioeconomic status before and during the COVID-19 pandemic [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-14-06.