In this roundtable discussion, Jamile Shammo, MD, of Northwestern University, moderated a panel of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) experts including David Swoboda, MD, of Tampa General Hospital; Saeed Sadeghi, MD, of the David Geffen School of Medicine; and Christopher Benton, MD, of Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers.
As part of the discussion, the panel reviewed a community oncology network study on an electronic medical record (EMR) alert system for optimizing luspatercept dosing in patients with low-risk MDS.
While the experts all shared what they called “alert fatigue,” Dr. Sadeghi suggested the study’s findings were welcome for promoting awareness of inappropriate dosing in this patient population. Dr. Benton pointed out the small size of the study but concurred there was a need to “get the word out” about this issue in training programs and practices.
To reduce excessive alerts, Dr. Benton said an alert system would benefit from artificial intelligence (AI) that could “synthesize the data and actually be able to draw in the patient’s hemoglobin levels, erythropoietin levels, response, number of transfusions, and this kind of thing so the alert only shows up if it makes sense.”
Dr. Swoboda considered that small community practices that may not have immediate access to pharmacists to quickly adjust doses, may benefit the most from such a system. Dr. Shammo agreed with this point, especially when considering clinicians in these settings often must juggle the different dose escalations luspatercept has for different conditions.