Prior Experience with Virtual Tumor Boards
Virtual MDC has been employed in multiple settings including evaluation
of lung cancer16,17, hepatocellular
carcinoma18, breast cancer19, GI
cancer19, malignant hematology19,
general oncology20,21, and head and
neck22. Utilization of virtual MDC has been associated
with improved referral coordination20, decreased
delays in diagnosis and treatment16,18,20, higher
frequency of MDT evaluation18, and reduced
patient18,20 and provider travel
burden16. Reported challenges in implementing a
virtual MDC program include reliable technical
setup16,20, increased length of virtual case
presentations21, paucity of community provider
cases19,20, delay in receiving supporting information
such as imaging and pathology slides19, and cost of
virtual informatics infrastructure17. Even with these
barriers, it appears that virtual MDC participants in general either
endorse or find it comparable to traditional in-person
meetings19,21. However, the extent to which a virtual
MDC affects guideline adherence and patient outcomes in comparison to a
traditional MDC is yet to be studied. As more data becomes available
with regards to MDC quality improvement, these relationships will be
detected.