This photo was taken before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oct. 21, 2020
Multidisciplinary tumor boards are vital to cancer treatment plans, bringing together clinicians from different specialties to guide patient treatment and improve outcomes.
However, compiling the relevant data for each case is time-consuming and requires contributions from multiple team members. To optimize the process, researchers at the MU School of Medicine partnered with Roche Diagnostics to evaluate a cloud-based product that integrates all relevant clinical data for a tumor board into a single digital dashboard accessible to everyone.
During a 16-month clinical study of the dashboard, researchers found a 30% preparation time reduction across three cancer categories. The biggest time savings involved the breast tumor board, where nurse navigators reduced their preparation time by 69%.
“Institutions with dedicated nurses preparing for cases will likely benefit the most,” said Richard Hammer, professor of pathology at the MU School of Medicine. “This dashboard enables easy access to clinical data, which may support optimal decision-making. In addition, it reduces costs for both patients and hospitals, which is currently under analysis.”
