TY - JOUR

T1 - Contributions to multidisciplinary team meetings in cancer care

T2 - Predictors of complete case information and comprehensive case discussions

AU - Wihl, Jessica

AU - Rosell, Linn

AU - Frederiksen, Kirsten

AU - Kinhult, Sara

AU - Lindell, Gert

AU - Nilbert, Mef

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Wihl et al.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Purpose: Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings integrate complex information and base recommendations for clinical management on interdisciplinary and multiprofessional deci-sion-making. To support high-quality decision-making and define key performance indica-tors, we aimed to determine completeness of case information and contributions to MDT case discussions in cancer care. Methods: In a prospective observational study design, based on three MDTs, we applied the Metric for Observation of Decision-Making (MODe) tool to assess the quality of case presentation and team members’ contributions to case discussions. The MDTs handled patients with brain tumors, soft tissue sarcomas and hepatobiliary cancers. The results were correlated to patient and team characteristics and to MDT leadership skills. Results: Data were collected from 349 case discussions during 32 MDT meetings. Information on radiology received the highest scores, followed by case history and information on histopathology. Patient-related information was less frequently mentioned and gen-erally received low scores. Contributions to the case discussions were predominantly by the chair, surgeons, and oncologists with limited contributions from nurses. Leadership skills showed a positive correlation with case presentations scores and failure to reach a treatment recommendation correlated with lower case discussion scores. Conclusion: Considerable resources are spent on MDT meetings in cancer care, which motivate initiatives to ensure high-quality and efficient decision-making processes. We identify unbalanced contributions from team members during MDT meetings, demonstrate limited provision of patient-related information and show that leadership skills may posi-tively influence the quality of the case presentations. We suggest that MDTs should consider and develop these aspects to ensure high-quality MDT-based case management and decision-making.

AB - Purpose: Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings integrate complex information and base recommendations for clinical management on interdisciplinary and multiprofessional deci-sion-making. To support high-quality decision-making and define key performance indica-tors, we aimed to determine completeness of case information and contributions to MDT case discussions in cancer care. Methods: In a prospective observational study design, based on three MDTs, we applied the Metric for Observation of Decision-Making (MODe) tool to assess the quality of case presentation and team members’ contributions to case discussions. The MDTs handled patients with brain tumors, soft tissue sarcomas and hepatobiliary cancers. The results were correlated to patient and team characteristics and to MDT leadership skills. Results: Data were collected from 349 case discussions during 32 MDT meetings. Information on radiology received the highest scores, followed by case history and information on histopathology. Patient-related information was less frequently mentioned and gen-erally received low scores. Contributions to the case discussions were predominantly by the chair, surgeons, and oncologists with limited contributions from nurses. Leadership skills showed a positive correlation with case presentations scores and failure to reach a treatment recommendation correlated with lower case discussion scores. Conclusion: Considerable resources are spent on MDT meetings in cancer care, which motivate initiatives to ensure high-quality and efficient decision-making processes. We identify unbalanced contributions from team members during MDT meetings, demonstrate limited provision of patient-related information and show that leadership skills may posi-tively influence the quality of the case presentations. We suggest that MDTs should consider and develop these aspects to ensure high-quality MDT-based case management and decision-making.

KW - Cancer conference

KW - Comorbidity

KW - Decision-making

KW - Patient-centred

KW - Tumor board

U2 - 10.2147/JMDH.S309162

DO - 10.2147/JMDH.S309162

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 34511928

AN - SCOPUS:85114859244

VL - 14

SP - 2445

EP - 2452

JO - Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare

JF - Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare

SN - 1178-2390

ER -