HemeTEAM India: together everyone achieves more

Interprofessional team-based care has been known to aid in better patient-focused care and outcomes. However, the same concept in the space of bone marrow transplant (BMT) especially in this part of the world is currently elusive. This single-center experience from a BMT unit of India depicts the effectiveness of interdisciplinary care.

An interdisciplinary team was built, and experts from different medical and allied specialties were onboarded along with establishment of state-of-the-art laboratories. Conceptualization of an integrative approach and development of HemeTEAM India began in 2020, and implementation in 2021. The evaluation of outcomes was performed on 31 December 2020 and on 31 July 2024 to compare the differences in outcomes after implementation of HemeTEAM India.

A total of 550 transplants were conducted before 2021. From 2021 to 2024, 500 more transplants were done. The day 100 mortality, hospital acquired infection rate, and antibiotic stewardship reduced by ∼70% after 2021. The uptake of genomics-based testing increased to 95%, with genetically informed treatment in 65%. The average length of hospital stay reduced from 21 to 19 days and intensive care unit stay from 7 to 3 days. The net profit increased from 12% to 16%, with a cost benefit of ∼$10 000 to the patient.

This is a single-center experience, depicting the effect of an integrative team base approach in a BMT unit providing holistic interdisciplinary care in India. This is the largest and the first of its kind hematology team in the country and South East Asia, where all aspects for a hematology/transplant patient are available in a single consultation.