Teleoncology: improving patient outcome through coordinated care

There are few specialized oncology centers in Pakistan. Teleoncology was introduced for weekly tumor case meetings between the surgery departments of Holy Family Hospital and NORI Hospital using videoconferencing. The team of surgeons, radiologists, and histopathologists of Holy Family Hospital and the oncologists from NORI Hospital are now conducting joint regular multidisciplinary meetings weekly for the well-being of patients of the area. The purpose of this study is to describe the infrastructure, consultative process, technical aspects, and initial evaluation of these meetings.

The surgical oncology patients are discussed every Friday morning since November 2009. A standardized format was adopted for case discussion in these multidisciplinary meetings. The postgraduate trainee presents the case from either side followed by management plan discussion. The oncologists may request a discussion to plan an intervention at Holy Family Hospital, or the surgeons at Holy Family Hospital may present a case that would benefit from multidisciplinary skills.

In total, 264 patients were discussed. The mean age of the patients was 51±16.2 years. In 43% of the patients, the joint treatment strategy was refined from the initial proposed treatment. Breast and gastrointestinal tract malignancies were the most common cases, followed by endocrine and skin and soft tissue tumors.

Teleoncology services can be extended easily with little addition to existing infrastructure but significantly reduce the stress for families as they deal with this challenging disease. Moreover, they improve the clinical evaluation and management strategies.