Abstract
BackgroundThe multidisciplinary team (MDT) discussion has earned increasing popularity for the delivery of cancer care. However, MDT meeting (MDTM) is time and resource intensive, and some efforts to optimize discussion processes are required. This study aims to investigate the efficiency of electronic list-based MDTM in treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) malignancy.MethodsBetween January 2015 and December 2016, patients with GI cancers were retrospectively reviewed. Patients permitting an MDTM with our novel technique (eMDT group) were compared with those undergoing a traditional discussion (cMDT group). The efficiency of MDT working, including time cost per meeting or case and overall number of reviewed cases, was checked, with accuracy of clinical staging and other outcomes explored meanwhile.ResultsThree thousand six hundred seventy-four patients were included, with 2156 (58.7%) and 1518 (41.3%) cases for eMDT and cMDT groups, respectively. Comparisons in age (P = 0.529), gender (P = 0.844), cancer type (P = 0.218), treatment plan (P = 0.737), and pathological stage (P = 0.098) were not significant between groups. However, the average time cost in both each meeting (149.4 vs. 205.1 min; P < 0.001) and each case (3.1 vs. 6.2 min; P < 0.001) was markedly reduced. Besides, this novel technique was associated with improved accuracy of clinical staging (P = 0.070) and reduced hospital stay (P < 0.001) compared with the traditional approach, with similar incidence of complications observed (P = 0.243).ConclusionsThe MDT working based on an intelligent checklist could save considerable time while not affecting treatment of GI malignancies. The improved efficiency also earns an increased capacity of hospital admission and in-patient care.
Highlights
The multidisciplinary team (MDT) discussion has earned increasing popularity for the delivery of cancer care
2156 (58.7%) patients receiving our novel MDT approach were assigned to the electronic MDT (eMDT) group, with the rest of 1518 (41.3%) patients allocated to the conventional MDT (cMDT) group
The average number of reviewed cases in each month was significantly larger in the eMDT group than that in the cMDT group (172.3 vs. 126.6; P = 0.004)
Summary
The multidisciplinary team (MDT) discussion has earned increasing popularity for the delivery of cancer care. MDT meeting (MDTM) is time and resource intensive, and some efforts to optimize discussion processes are required. An MDT should consist of several specialized experts on oncologic fields working together for specific cancer [6,7,8]. This team often meets at a fixed time to discuss the diagnosis and treatment of newly referred or admitted patients with complex diseases, and commonly summarize a universal plan based on current guidelines and individual experience. Numerous evidence has confirmed that MDTs achieve better adherence to guidelines, better diagnostics, and better adherence to formulated treatment plans [9,10,11,12,13]
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