title: Linked orders improve safety in scheduling and administration of chemotherapeutic agents.
abstract: The pharmacologic treatment for cancer must adhere to complex, finely orchestrated treatment plans, including not only chemotherapy medications, but pre/post-hydration, anti-emetics, anti-anxiety, and other medications that are given before, during and after chemotherapy doses. The treatment plans specify the medications and dictate precise dosing, frequency, and timing. This is a challenge to most Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE), Pharmacy and Electronic Medication Administration record (eMAR) Systems. Medications are scheduled on specific dates, referred to as chemo days, from the onset of the treatment, and precisely timed on the designated chemo day. For patients enrolled in research protocols, the adherence to the defined schedule takes on additional import, since variation is a violation of the protocol. If the oncologist determines that medications must be administered outside the defined constraints, the patient must be un-enrolled from the protocol and the course of therapy is re-written. Pharmacy and eMAR systems utilized in processing chemotherapy medications must be able to support the intricate relationships between each drug defined in the treatment plans.
authors.affiliation: Partners HealthCare System, Boston, MA;
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Whipple
authors.forename: Joy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boulware
authors.forename: Kala
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Danca
authors.forename: Kirill
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Boyarin
authors.forename: Eliot
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ginsberg
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.forename: Micheal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sweet
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schade
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rogala
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D006801:Humans; D050316:Medical Order Entry Systems; D008508:Medication Errors; D008510:Medication Systems, Hospital; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations