Videoconferencing for multidisciplinary team meetings in the coronavirus disease era – human factors awareness and recognition

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has led to the birth of videoconference multidisciplinary teams, which are now commonplace. This remote way of deciding care demands a new set of rules to ensure the quality of the complex decisions that are made for the patient group needing multidisciplinary care. Videoconference multidisciplinary teams bring with them novel forms of distraction that are under-appreciated and can impair decision-making. METHOD: A practical checklist was generated as applied to videoconference multidisciplinary teams using the principles of human factors awareness and recognition. RESULTS: Some of the strategies that should be adopted to minimise errors arising from human factors are: information technology support, a suitable environment to dial in, a global checklist employed prior to the videoconference, visible participants, avoiding distractions from other sources (e.g. e-mail, mobile phone), a videoconference sign-out and rapid dissemination of the outcomes sheet. CONCLUSION: This article presents a framework that uses human factors principles applied in this setting, which will contribute to enhanced patient safety, team working and a reduction in medical errors.