Organizational Impact of Immunotherapies in Advanced Cancers in France

Abstract

PURPOSEIn 2020, the French National Authority for Health (Haute Autorité de Santé) published a methodologic guide called organizational impact (OI) cartography to define and structure assessment of the OI of health technologies. As immunotherapies are associated with extended survival and improved quality of life in advanced cancer, we aimed to identify OIs that immunotherapies had on health care systems and professionals. To our knowledge, we suggest the first implementation for OI assessment on the basis of the cartography.METHODSA literature review was conducted, and interviews with health care professionals (HCPs) were performed to identify OIs of immunotherapies. They were asked if immunotherapies had OIs classified into three macrocriteria, namely, impact on the care process (six criteria), impact on capacities and skills required (six criteria), and impact on society (four criteria). If an OI was mentioned for a criterion, information on its impact (minor/moderate/major) and its timing was collected. We considered that an OI existed when 75% of HCPs mentioned an impact for a given criterion.RESULTSOverall, 27 HCPs were interviewed. For 12 of 16 criteria, most HCPs mentioned an impact, whereas the literature identified impacts for 11 criteria. Four criteria (skills and transfer between HCPs, scheduling capabilities, and social relationship) had consensus among HCPs and a high impact; two criteria (rhythm or care duration, working/living conditions) showed consensus but a moderate impact; two criteria (funding and scheduling capabilities cross-structure) had a high impact but no consensus. For eight criteria (as environment or inequity), there was no consensus and moderate impact.CONCLUSIONThe introduction of immunotherapies for advanced cancer has had an important OI in France, regarding capacities and skills. Further research using qualitative analysis of interviews will provide more information regarding OI.