Patient Satisfaction, Comfort Level, and Operational Benefits of Subcutaneous Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Patient satisfaction improvements from subcutaneous immune checkpoint inhibitors contribute meaningfully to institutional quality metrics, care center reputation, and economic viability beyond direct drug revenue considerations. The visible relief on patients’ faces after receiving quick subcutaneous injections and leaving promptly creates positive feedback that influences where patients choose to receive care. This satisfaction frees infusion chairs, reduces wait times, and increases capacity for treating additional patients, while enabling novel care delivery models such as weekend subcutaneous injection clinics following health care provider clearance, expanding treatment access beyond traditional weekday schedules.

Granular cost savings accumulate from eliminating supplies required for intravenous (IV) administration: port access needles, IV tubing, diluent, saline infusions, extended chair time, and infusion pump utilization. When calculated across institutional patient volumes and specialty allocations, these savings compound significantly. More importantly, freeing infusion chair capacity from checkpoint inhibitor appointments allows institutions to accommodate other patients requiring IV therapies without extending wait times or experiencing the burden of hour-long delays for chair availability—a critical consideration as cancer diagnoses increase and treatment regimens extend patient survival.

Nursing staff perspectives on subcutaneous adoption prove uniformly positive, particularly from nurse managers managing staffing optimization and minimizing wait times. Direct care nurses report relief from the emotional burden of repeated venipuncture attempts, with even the most skilled practitioners experiencing distress when requiring third or fourth needle sticks as patients’ veins deteriorate over maintenance therapy courses. The correlation between patient satisfaction and staff nurse satisfaction becomes vital for thriving cancer centers facing workforce challenges. However, implementation must consider that subcutaneous injections requiring manual administration over 5 to 7 minutes occupy nursing time differently from IV infusions, where nurses can initiate infusion pumps and attend to other tasks, highlighting the need for injection pumps or wearable devices to optimize workflow as subcutaneous volumes increase.