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BackgroundThe COVID-19 outbreak has increased challenges associated with health management, especially cancer management. In an effort to provide continuous pharmaceutical care to cancer patients, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) implemented a remote pharmacy service platform based on its already existing web-based hospital app known as Cloud SYSUCC. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics, acceptance, and initial impact of the Cloud SYSUCC app during a COVID-19 outbreak in a tertiary cancer hospital in China. MethodsThe total number of online prescriptions and detailed information on the service were obtained during the first 6 months after the remote service platform was successfully set up. The patients’ gender, age, residence, primary diagnosis, drug classification, weekly number of prescriptions, and prescribed drugs were analyzed. In addition, a follow-up telephonic survey was conducted to evaluate patients’ satisfaction in using the remote prescription service. ResultsA total of 1718 prescriptions, including 2022 drugs for 1212 patients, were delivered to 24 provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government of China between February 12, 2020, and August 11, 2020. The majority of patients were female (841/1212, 69.39%), and 90.18% (1093/1212) of them were aged 31-70 years old. The top 3 primary diagnoses for which remote medical prescriptions were made included breast cancer (599/1212, 49.42%), liver cancer (249/1212, 20.54%), and thyroid cancer (125/1212, 10.31%). Of the 1718 prescriptions delivered, 1435 (83.5%) were sent to Guangdong Province and 283 (16.5%) were sent to other provinces in China. Of the 2022 drugs delivered, 1012 (50.05%) were hormonal drugs. The general trend in the use of the remote prescription service declined since the 10th week. A follow-up telephonic survey found that 88% (88/100) of the patients were very satisfied, and 12% (12/100) of the patients were somewhat satisfied with the remote pharmacy service platform. ConclusionsThe remote pharmacy platform Cloud SYSUCC is efficient and convenient for providing continuous pharmaceutical care to patients with cancer during the COVID-19 crisis. The widespread use of this platform can help to reduce person-to-person transmission as well as infection risk for these patients. Further efforts are needed to improve the quality and acceptance of the Cloud SYSUCC platform, as well as to regulate and standardize the management of this novel service.

Background: The outbreak of COVID-19 increased difficulties associated with health management, especially cancer management. To provide continuous pharmaceutical care to cancer patients, the Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) implemented a remote pharmacy service platform based on its already existing online hospital App, known as Cloud SYSUCC.Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the characteristics, acceptance, and initial impact of Cloud SYSUCC during the outbreak of COVID-19 in a tertiary cancer hospital in China.Methods: Total number of online prescriptions and detailed information were obtained during the first 6 months after work resumption. The gender, age, residence, primary diagnosis, drug classification, weekly number of prescriptions, prescribed drugs and patients were included in the analysis. Meanwhile, a telephone survey regarding the patients' satisfaction using the remote prescription service was conducted.Results: A total of 1718 prescriptions including 2022 drugs for 1212 patients were delivered to 24 provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government of China between February 12, 2020 and August 11, 2020. The majority of patients were female (841, 69.39%) and 90.18% (n=1093) of the patients were aged 31 to 70 years old. The top three online medical prescription diagnosis were breast cancer (599, 49.42%), liver cancer (249, 20.54%), and thyroid cancer (125, 10.31%). Of the 1718 delivered prescriptions, 1435 (83.5%) were sent to Guangdong Province and 283 (16.5%) were sent to other provinces in China. Of the 2022 delivered drugs, 1012 (50.05%) were hormonal drugs. The general trend in the use of the online prescription service was down since the 10th weeks. A telephone survey showed 88% (n=88) participants were very satisfied while 12% (n=12) were somewhat satisfied with our remote pharmacy service platform.Conclusions: The Cloud SYSUCC remote pharmacy platform is efficient and convenient for continuous pharmaceutical care to cancer patients during the COVID-19 crisis. The widespread use of this platform can help to reduce person-to-person transmission as well as the infection risk of patients with cancer diseases. Further efforts need to be made to improve the quality and acceptance of Cloud SYSUCC, as well as to regulate and standardize the management of this novel service.Clinicaltrial: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]