Objectives: To survey academic and community physician preferences regarding the virtual multidisciplinary tumor board (MTB) for further improvement and expansion.
Study design: This anonymous 14-question survey was sent to individuals that participated in the head and neck virtual MTBs. The survey was sent via email beginning August 3, 2021, through October 5, 2021.
Setting: The University of Maryland Medical Center and regional practices in the state of Maryland.
Methods: Survey responses were recorded and presented as percentages. Subset analysis was performed to obtain frequency distributions by facility and provider type.
Results: There were 50 survey responses obtained with a response rate of 56%. Survey participants included 11 surgeons (22%), 19 radiation oncologists (38%), and 8 medical oncologists (16%), amongst others. More than 96% of participants found the virtual MTB to be useful when discussing complex cases and impactful to future patient care. A majority of respondents perceived a reduction in time to adjuvant care (64%). Community and academic physician responses strongly agreed that the virtual MTB improved communication (82% vs 73%), provided patient-specific information for cancer care (82% vs 73%), and improved access to other specialties (66% vs 64%). Academic physicians, more so than community physicians, strongly agreed that the virtual MTB improves access to clinical trial enrollment (64% vs 29%) and can be useful in obtaining CME (64% vs 55%).
Conclusion: Academic and community physicians view the virtual MTB favorably. This platform can be adapted regionally and further expanded to improve communication between physicians and improve multidisciplinary care for patients.
Keywords: head and neck cancer; medical oncology; multidisciplinary tumor board; radiation oncology.
© 2023 The Authors. OTO Open published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation.