Multidisciplinary Cancer Care With a Patient and Physician Satisfaction Focus

PURPOSE: Cancer treatment can be a complex and confusing process for both the patients and the care providers. With an ever-increasing array of treatment options, a push toward personalized medicine, and a complex payer system, coordination of cancer care is essential in streamlining the process. At Intermountain Healthcare, we have developed a hospital-based multidisciplinary cancer clinic that provides coordinated and comprehensive treatment planning in a single visit. Provider participation is open to employed, affiliated, and community physicians. METHODS: The first multidisciplinary clinic, which was for breast cancer, was held in 2005. Similar clinics for other tumor types have subsequently been instituted, including clinics for genitourinary/prostate, GI/liver/pancreas, sarcoma, and thoracic cancer. Each clinic is staffed by a surgeon, medical oncologist, radiation oncologist, and other specialists as needed. Clinic meetings are held immediately following a specialty tumor conference during which each patient is discussed. The patients then meet one-on-one with each specialist and leave the clinic with an individualized treatment plan. Patient and physician satisfaction surveys are regularly conducted. Financial metrics are calculated to track downstream revenue. RESULTS: Satisfaction with the clinic has been high, and 98% of patients rated their overall experience as "excellent." Physicians also give the clinic high marks, crediting it with improving communication, building patient confidence, and increasing efficiency. CONCLUSION: The multidisciplinary clinic at Intermountain Healthcare has greatly improved the cancer care process for patients, physicians, and the community. If implemented appropriately, multidisciplinary clinics have the potential to enhance quality of care and increase downstream revenue.