How a multidisciplinary approach can improve your treatment.
By ShareMD Connect
If you or a loved one is facing a cancer diagnosis, it’s critical to understand all of your options.
You’ll see many specialists throughout your journey, and you may see more physicians than average depending on your overall health and your type of cancer. Unfortunately, these doctors don’t always work as a unit, so you’re left trying to communicate among them all. Choosing a multidisciplinary approach gives you an advantage. It grants you access to a team of experts who work together to help you heal.
What is a multidisciplinary approach?
During your cancer treatment you might see a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, several different types of surgeons, imaging specialists, support professionals and multiple nurses. Bringing all of these specialists together is called a multidisciplinary approach, and it’s considered best practice in cancer treatment today.
It is well known in the medical community that multidisciplinary team management of cancer patients generally improves patient outcomes.
A multidisciplinary team can do this by consistently reviewing your case and improving the quality of decisions so that you’re always getting the best next-step. As recent studies have shown, having a multidisciplinary team can result in:
- Patients are offered the opportunity to be entered into high-quality and relevant clinical trials.
- Patients are being assessed and offered the level of information and support that they need to cope with their condition.
- Continuity of care, even when different aspects of care are delivered by different individuals or providers.
- Good communication among primary, secondary, and tertiary care.
- Good data collection, for the benefit of the individual patient and for audit and research.
- Improved quality of outcomes because of better understanding and awareness of patients’ characteristics and through reflective practice.
The practical benefits
One of the most important benefits of a multidisciplinary approach is that you’ll have access to all of your specialists under one roof. You won’t have to travel to different locations trying to get all the help you need. Instead, tests, appointments, scans, biopsies, and more are all done at the same place.
Plus, because your team is used to communicating and coordinating care together, you won’t have to “play telephone” trying to explain what one specialist said to another specialist. Miscommunication between specialists is a common issue that tends to arise during cancer treatment and can lead to lots of stress and frustration- something that you do not need while you are undergoing cancer care.
With a multidisciplinary team, you’ll have a team of professionals who come together with a singular purpose: to help you get better and feel better while you do.
If you are not currently working with a multidisciplinary team for your cancer care, you should consider seeking a second opinion with a team that does. Not only can it improve your outcomes, but it can greatly improve your quality of life while you’re going through treatment.
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