Learning from Adaptations to the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Teleconsultation Supported Cancer Care Pathways at a Comprehensive Cancer Center in Northern Italy

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings are widely recognized as the gold standard for care management of cancer patients. During the pandemic, cancer care delivery was a priority to be maintained through cancer care pathways (CCPs) and MDT meetings, which were forcibly converted from in-person to telematic format. The aim of our retrospective study was to report the evolution of MDT meeting performance following the shift to teleconsultation by analyzing four MDT meeting indicators between 2019 and 2022. We observed that the MDT meeting teleformat strengthened the overall CCP performance by boosting the participation of MDT members and the number of discussed cases, all without compromising either the annual frequency or duration of MDT meetings. Considering the rapidity, extent, and intensity with which telematic tools have been adopted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of this study help to understand the effects of these tools on health care and the parties involved. ABSTRACT: Multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings are recognized as the gold standard for care management of cancer patients, and during the COVID-19 pandemic they were considered a priority to be maintained. Due to pandemic-related restrictions, MDT meetings were forcibly converted from in-person to telematic format. This retrospective study evaluated the annual performance of four MDT meeting indicators (MDT members’ attendance, number of discussed cases, frequency of MDT meetings, and duration) between 2019 and 2022 to report on the implementation of teleconsultation in MDT meetings related to 10 cancer care pathways (CCPs). Over the study period, MDT member participation and the number of discussed cases improved or did not change in 90% (9/10) and 80% (8/10) of the CCPs, respectively. We did not observe significant differences in any of the CCPs included in the study regarding the annual frequency and duration of MDT meeting. Considering the rapidity, extent, and intensity with which telematic tools were adopted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of this study showed that MDT teleconsultation supported the CCPs, and consequently, the delivery of cancer care in COVID-19 times, helping to understand the effects of telematic tools on health care performance and the parties involved.