Building a system for accepting COVID-19 cases by applying drug management at a cancer hospital

ABSTRACT

It was expected that the number of patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization would increase worldwide. In the context of the worsening pandemic, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government requested the National Cancer Center Hospital to accept patients with COVID-19. Upon acceptance of the request, six working groups (WGs), i.e., the administrative/medical cooperation group, COVID-19 medical care group, cancer medical care group, medical resource management group, staff work/health management group and infectious disease zoning group, were constituted at our cancer hospital. The objective was to provide appropriate medical care for both cancer patients and patients with COVID-19. A COVID-19-dedicated ward was set up with 23 beds for admission of moderate cases and 2 beds for severe cases. A COVID-19 medical care manual was prepared in collaboration with the COVID-19 treatment team and the infection control team. The Pharmacy Department devised a system by which the ward staff confirmed the drugs that the patients were taking and had brought with them at the time of admission to the COVID-19 ward. The Pharmaceutical Affairs Committee reviewed and approved "off-label use" and "limited patient-only use" of the therapeutic agents favipiravir and ciclesonide for COVID-19. In addition, since the treatment for COVID-19 was prescribed by doctors who were not infectious disease specialists, the pharmacists in the Pharmaceutical Information Section of the Pharmacy Department prepared a master list of drugs with information on each drug that could be prescribed to treat COVID-19, and established a drug-ordering sys¬tem so that there were no errors in the prescription. We accepted patients with COVID-19 for the first time at our hospital in April 2020. We report that we have been able to provide appropriate treatment by applying the in-hospital drug supply system that had been established in the past for cancer treatment. © 2021 Japan Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.