Virtual multidisciplinary meetings in a new COVID-19 world: how well are we doing it?

ABSTRACT

Background: As of January 16, 2022, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused over 323 million confirmed cases and over 5.5 million deaths worldwide. The pandemic necessitated a fast transition within healthcare services around the globe. The Head and Neck cancer multidisciplinary meeting (MDM) is a regular meeting involving diverse health professionals. In the heat of the pandemic, meetings were swiftly transitioned online to adhere to social distancing rules and ensure clinician compliance and safety. This qualitative paper explores the experience of an Australian Head and Neck MDM following the vital shift. In particular, the views on preparation, login, attendance, quality, patient outcomes, safety, and interpersonal relationships were considered. Methods: An online questionnaire, including Likert Scale and free text type questions, was created using Redcap. An anonymous survey link was emailed to 59 Head and Neck Unit members at the University Hospital Geelong. The questions evaluated thoughts on preparation, login, attendance, quality, clinician safety and interpersonal relationships on the current virtual MDM (vMDM) compared to face-to-face meetings. Responders included surgeons (19%), medical oncologists (4%), radiology oncologists (8%), junior medical staff (31%), allied health (8%), nursing staff (15%) and other (4%). Results: Many participants (62.3%) find it easier to attend the meeting. Concerning login, 95.9% of participants know where to find the login details for the meeting, and 100% of survey participants find the weekly invitation link adequate. Many participants felt that presentation preparation was not disrupted by moving to an online platform (72.7%). Almost half of the participants (45.9%) find it difficult to hear during meetings. Most respondents were satisfied with the quality of radiology imaging (75.0%) and pathology slides (91.2%). In addition, 65.2% of attendees feel less of an interpersonal relationship with colleagues since moving online. Regarding participant contribution, 47.8% feel it has not impacted their ability to contribute to the meeting, and 34.8% feel there has not been a change. Conclusions: The ongoing resurgence of COVID-19 will mean that virtual meetings will stay. This study demonstrates that our participants find the vMDM a positive move. We hope other units benefit from being cognisant of the identified issues and allow for the development of their own MDMs during this pandemic. © 2023 Universidad de Castilla la Mancha. All rights reserved.