K. Bonsu1,2, O. Ibekwe1, C. Gaudioso1, C. E. Nwogu1,2 1Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Thoracic Surgery, Buffalo, NY, USA 2State University Of New York At Buffalo, Jacobs School Of Medicine And Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, NY, USA
Introduction: Cancer management is complex and multidisciplinary approaches lead to better patient outcomes and quality of care. The aim of our study was to assess the impact of technology on the provision/specificity of information and their impact on the quality of tumor board meetings.
Methods: A review of 412 thoracic cancer patients presented at thoracic multidisciplinary cancer conferences (MCC) at an academic cancer center from September 2020 to December 2021 was performed pre and post introduction of the Navify® tumor board platform. We studied the impact of the provision and specificity of “reason for presentation” (RFP) and “new clinical problem” (NCP) on discussion time, quality of case presentation and arrival at consensus. A composite score was used to measure the quality of tumor board deliberations.
Results: The use of the technological platform, resulted in an improved provision and specificity of NCP and RFP (Table 1). The quality of case presentation and discussion was improved when both NCP and RFP were provided compared to when they were not (mean composite score = 83.4 vs 78.0, p value=0.021), but there was no difference when NCP and RFP were specific (mean composite score = 83.7 vs 82.4, p value=0.383). However, the provision of these variables had no impact on discussion time and consensus.
Conclusion: The use of a tumor board platform improved the provision and specificity of information. The provision of NCP and RFP enhanced the overall quality of deliberations. Additional benefits of technology on the conduct and quality of tumor board meetings deserve further study.
