Dr. Jenny Yu and the Treatment of Thyroid Eye Disease at Home
“Home infusion limits the kind of exposure to infection that you would find in a hospital or outpatient setting.” –Dr. Jenny Yu.
Chartwell Pennsylvania, LP, one of the largest and most clinically advanced providers of home infusion, specialty pharmacy, and enteral nutrition in the nation, recently became the first provider to administer TEPEZZA (teprotumumab-trbw) in a home-infusion setting. Approved on January 21, 2020, TEPEZZA is the first and only FDA-approved medicine for the treatment of thyroid eye disease (TED), a rare and serious autoimmune disease. Home infusion therapy continues to ease the tremendous burden of care placed on hospitals and other health care facilities throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.
A member of Chartwell’s expert field nursing staff administered the first TEPEZZA home infusion therapy on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, at the patient’s residence. The medication is administered once every three weeks for a total of eight infusions.
This incredible achievement in the treatment of a potentially debilitating autoimmune disease took place less than a week after Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf ordered a statewide shutdown of all non-life-sustaining businesses in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The following weeks saw the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases grow exponentially, launching an unprecedented public health response that included shelter-in-place orders and business restrictions that affected more than 90% of the nation’s populace.
A prescribing physician for multiple Chartwell teprotumumab-trbw patients, Jenny Yu, MD (pictured), Vice Chair of Clinical Operations for the Department of Ophthalmology, UPMC Eye Center, an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh, and a McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member, called the situation “the perfect storm” for many patients with TED. Dr. Yu, who also serves on the UPMC Orbital, Oculoplastic, and Aesthetic Surgery Service, cited not only the pandemic, but also the importance of timing in the patient’s treatment.
“The drug in treatment is time-sensitive, in terms of catching the patient in the inflammatory phase,” Dr. Yu said. “Of course, we also had COVID-19 to tend with. Home infusion limits the kind of exposure to infection that you would find in a hospital or outpatient setting. Younger patients without many other comorbidities are excellent candidates for the initial infusion in the home.”
According to Dr. Yu, Chartwell’s wide network is also a contributing factor when specifying site-of-care.
“I see a lot of patients from other UPMC locations coming into Pittsburgh for a specialty evaluation,” Dr. Yu said. “To be able to bring the treatment options closer to the patient’s home or in their home—it just makes sense.”
Illustration: McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Read more...
Chartwell News Release (03/25/20)
Pharmacy Times (08/03/20)
UPMC Eye Center
Bio: Dr. Jenny Yu
A member of Chartwell’s expert field nursing staff administered the first TEPEZZA home infusion therapy on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, at the patient’s residence. The medication is administered once every three weeks for a total of eight infusions.
This incredible achievement in the treatment of a potentially debilitating autoimmune disease took place less than a week after Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf ordered a statewide shutdown of all non-life-sustaining businesses in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The following weeks saw the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases grow exponentially, launching an unprecedented public health response that included shelter-in-place orders and business restrictions that affected more than 90% of the nation’s populace.
A prescribing physician for multiple Chartwell teprotumumab-trbw patients, Jenny Yu, MD (pictured), Vice Chair of Clinical Operations for the Department of Ophthalmology, UPMC Eye Center, an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh, and a McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member, called the situation “the perfect storm” for many patients with TED. Dr. Yu, who also serves on the UPMC Orbital, Oculoplastic, and Aesthetic Surgery Service, cited not only the pandemic, but also the importance of timing in the patient’s treatment.
“The drug in treatment is time-sensitive, in terms of catching the patient in the inflammatory phase,” Dr. Yu said. “Of course, we also had COVID-19 to tend with. Home infusion limits the kind of exposure to infection that you would find in a hospital or outpatient setting. Younger patients without many other comorbidities are excellent candidates for the initial infusion in the home.”
According to Dr. Yu, Chartwell’s wide network is also a contributing factor when specifying site-of-care.
“I see a lot of patients from other UPMC locations coming into Pittsburgh for a specialty evaluation,” Dr. Yu said. “To be able to bring the treatment options closer to the patient’s home or in their home—it just makes sense.”
Illustration: McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Read more...
Chartwell News Release (03/25/20)
Pharmacy Times (08/03/20)
UPMC Eye Center
Bio: Dr. Jenny Yu