MDT Board: a unique project for doctors caring for patients with lung diseases and other thoracic pathologies
A unique concept of a cooperative thoracic group has been created in the Czech Republic, involving specialists from several leading Prague clinics. The primary purpose of the so-called board is to provide the best diagnostic and treatment plan for a patient with lung disease and other pathologies in the thoracic area, shared by all members of the multidisciplinary team and based on current knowledge. The MDT Board project, which operates on the principle of online indication seminars, is intended for doctors of patients with common and rare lung diseases.
Introduction
The MDT Board project was launched in February 2022, connecting three leading Prague clinical workplaces to maximize the knowledge of leading Czech specialists in the field of lung diseases and at the same time the most advanced technological infrastructures of these individual workplaces. Specialists from the 1st Clinic of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases of the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and General University Hospital, the 3rd Surgical Clinic of the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and Motol University Hospital, and the Institute of Radiation Therapy of the Central Military Hospital are participating in the project.
The main goals of the project include providing the best therapeutic modality for patients with thoracic pathologies through diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations created based on the consensus method, significantly shortening the interval between diagnosis and treatment, increasing the quality of patient care, and raising interdisciplinary awareness of the latest guidelines and practices.
Online Indication Seminars in Practice
The MDT Board project operates through its website. Here, in addition to basic important information, a form is available for enrolling specific patients into the indication seminar. These seminars are held regularly every Tuesday at 2:00 PM, unless otherwise stated. Filling in the form takes about 10 minutes, and the seminar itself is conducted online via the Webex Meet application.
For participation in the seminar, only a stable and functional internet connection is required, in addition to prepared complete documentation about the patient. If technical support is needed, contact information for the project coordinator is provided on the site. There is no need to worry about unfamiliarity with the Webex Meet application; the project coordinator will conduct a test call with the indicating doctor if necessary. For the less technically skilled, there is also the option to enroll the patient into the indication seminar directly through the coordinator. Only doctors from the thoracic group or indicating doctors from other healthcare facilities can participate in the seminars.
A Basis for Modern Comprehensive Care
In addition to consulting the findings with the multidisciplinary team, the project also serves for the transfer of the patient to the care of specialized workplaces, if indicated based on the findings. Diagnoses, indications, and procedures ensured by the multidisciplinary team can be found on the project website. The range of ensured procedures is divided according to specializations (pulmonology, oncology, thoracic surgery). However, even if a diagnosis or indication is not listed in any of the sections, it does not mean that the multidisciplinary team does not address the issue. The indication areas are general; it is important to state the current relevant diagnosis in the indication seminar form.
The domain of the project, as already mentioned, is providing the knowledge of leading specialists in the field of thoracic pathologies, benefiting patients with various, including rare diagnoses, such as pleural mesothelioma. Within the seminars, a patient can be indicated for a specialized procedure in a very short time, for example, a robotic surgical procedure using the Da Vinci surgical robot (3rd Surgical Clinic of the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and Motol University Hospital) or unique bronchoscopic fiducials marking for targeted irradiation using CyberKnife at the Central Military Hospital, which was first introduced in the Czech Republic by the head of the 1st Clinic of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases of the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University and General University Hospital, Assoc. Prof. MUDr. Jiří Votruba, Ph.D.
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Source: Cooperative Thoracic Group. MDT Board. Available at: https://mdtboard.cz
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