Value of multidisciplinary collaboration in acute and chronic pancreatitis.

Abstract

Multidisciplinary collaboration (MDC) has been widely adopted in healthcare to optimize patient care. MDC brings several specialized healthcare providers to the table using several methods, including multidisciplinary meetings (MDMs), multidisciplinary clinics, teleconferences, and online multidisciplinary expert panels, to reach the goal of achieving the best diagnosis and treatment plan for complex diseases. Diagnosis and management of acute/chronic pancreatitis is complex which necessitates the development and utilization of MDC. The key members of pancreatitis MDM include gastroenterologists, radiologists, pathologists, hepatobiliary surgeons, chairperson, and a coordinator. After selection of admitted or referred patients, the availability of required information is reviewed, and then each case is discussed. The final diagnosis and treatment plan is confirmed by consensus, especially for complex cases that require endoscopic intervention or pancreatectomy and patients with the possibility of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. It has been shown that MDMs have improved the clinical outcome of patients with acute/chronic pancreatitis. In addition to MDM, the feasibility of multidisciplinary clinics, teleconferences, and online multidisciplinary expert panels for the management of pancreatic disorders has been investigated. Understanding structure, potential advantages, and limitations of MDC will help clinicians and healthcare systems in developing an optimized MDC to improve the management of acute/chronic pancreatitis. This narrative review summarized prior recommendations and explored the impact of MDC on clinical outcomes of patients with pancreatitis. Our recommendations offer a generalizable method that can be utilized by healthcare systems.