EMR-COMPATIBLE ONLINE VIRTUAL MEETING ROOM FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY MEDICAL TEAMS

Full Description

The amount and diversity of patient data available for clinicians is steadily increasing. As a result, patient management for diseases, such as cancer, increasingly involves a multidisciplinary team (MDT) of clinicians from a range of specialties and sometimes from several different institutions. MDTs, such as tumor boards, meet regularly to collectively review clinical data and select treatment plans. To collaborate effectively, clinicians need a way to efficiently assemble a team, convenient meeting place and time, and access relevant patient data.

MDT meetings currently take place in either face-to-face, via teleconference, or over the internet (e.g., email and video conference), but these kinds of meetings present number of logistical challenges, especially if clinicians are based at different institutions. For example, it is sometimes difficult for all members of the MDT to be present at a scheduled meeting and/or difficult to assemble all the relevant data for the meeting. Additionally, the decision-making process is not completely recorded because current modes of communication (e.g. email) are not integrated with the EMR. These factors can slow down access to critical patient information and ultimately impair the ability of the MDT to make effective decisions. There is a need for an efficient way to conduct MDT meetings so that all relevant information is accessible from a single, convenient location, with improved annotation of the decision-making process.

Description:

UCSF inventors have created a web-based software platform that enables MDTs to meet in an online, virtual environment at a time and location convenient for each physician. The platform is designed to be flexible, allowing meetings between groups as small as two conferring over a single patient as well as meetings between large teams conferring over the care of multiple patients. Further, the system is interoperable between institutions and thus allows for efficient collaboration between clinicians from different institutions.

The software has an easy to use graphical interface and is fully integrated with the EMR. Physicians can easily import relevant medical reports, digital pathology images and radiographs and describe relevant findings and opinions (using text, voice or video input) in a single, virtual, meeting location. These virtual meetings can be set to automatically to terminate after a period of time, upon which the discussion and consensus patient care plan can be recorded and archived into the EMR. These features enable MDTs to meet conveniently and efficiently discuss patient management decisions.

Advantages

·          Convenient and efficient

·          Easy to use graphical interface

·          Fully-integrated with EMR system allowing import of relevant medical records

·          Facilitates annotation and automatic archiving of MDT discussion into EMR

·          Singular resource for accessing information relevant to a discussion with MDT, such as patient records and annotation of MDT discussion

·          Can be used by small or large groups of clinicians as well as care-givers from different institutions.

·          HIPAA compliance has been integrated from the inception with secured SSL-encrypted data

·          Designed to run behind firewall protections

·          Integrates voice, video, and text input modalities

·          Can be adapted for any type of MDT or disease focus

·          Can be adapted to various EMR or EHR systems

Testing

“White box testing” of the source code along with a case analysis with a real multidisciplinary group at UCSF