Little Things Can Cause Big Issues in Patient Care

The patient—a woman with a neuroendocrine tumor—had waited at Baystate Medical Center’s infusion center for three hours. The lanreotide (Somatuline Depot, Ipsen) injection for her tumor treatment had not arrived from the out-of-state third-party pharmacy as mandated by her insurance. No one at the hospital could trace it. The drug was reordered and the patient’s treatment had to be rescheduled. Although she received her treatment, the delay could have