Real-time multidisciplinary team meeting management systems. A comparison with paper records for staging completeness and waiting times

Abstract

A bespoke electronic system, now being used regularly across Northern Ireland to facilitate the multidisciplinary team process in its recording of the team decisions for cancer patients, is investigated. Over 80% of the expected targets for cancer waiting times are being achieved and clinical stage recording for lung cancers has increased from 67% in 2006 to 88% in 2009.

Keywords:

• patient care team
• delivery of health care
• decision support systems, clinical
• waiting lists
• neoplasm staging

Acknowledgements

The project was funded by the DHSSPSNI, the Service Delivery Unit and the Business Services Organisation (former DIS). The MS Access databases, which constituted a prototype for the CaPPS system, will be publicly available through the NICR website under a suitable Creative Common license (http://creativecommons.org).

Notes

1. The tool was developed and is used with permission of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), Chicago, Illinois.