ArticleBMC health services research2018
Multidisciplinary first-day consultation accelerates diagnostic procedures and throughput times of patients in a head-and-neck cancer care pathway, a mixed method study.
Article in BMC health services research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Timely Matters: Predictors of Delay in Oral Cavity Cancer Patients Across the Care Continuum.Laryngoscope investigative otolaryngology · 2026Article
- The Bidirectional Relationship between Psoriatic Arthritis and Mental Health: A Comprehensive Review.Current rheumatology reviews · 2026Review
- Patient Experiences Before and After the Implementation of Advanced Nursing Practice for Head and Neck Cancer.Clinical journal of oncology nursing · 2025Article
- Same-Day Access for Head and Neck Cancer: Effect on Patient Outcome and Quality-Related Benchmarks.Journal of patient experience · 2025Article
- The effect of treatment delay on quality of life and overall survival in head and neck cancer patients.European journal of cancer care · 2022Article
- Determinants of delay in the head and neck oncology care pathway: The next step in value-based health care.European journal of cancer care · 2021Article
- Factors influencing the delivery of cancer pathways: a summary of the literature.Journal of health organization and management · 2021Article
- Reorganizing the Multidisciplinary Team Meetings in a Tertiary Centre for Gastro-Intestinal Oncology Adds Value to the Internal and Regional Care Pathways. A Mixed Method Evaluation.International journal of integrated care · 2021Article
- Prosthodontic rehabilitation of head and neck cancer patients-Challenges and new developments.Oral diseases · 2021Article
- Article
- Association between hospital interval and survival in patients with oral cancer: A waiting time paradox.PloS one · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHead and neck cancers are fast growing tumours that are complex to diagnose and treat. Multidisciplinary input into organization and logistics is critical to start treatment without delay. A multidisciplinary first-day consultation (MFDC) was introduced to reduce throughput times for patients suffering from head and neck cancer in the care pathway. In this mixed method study we evaluated the effects of introducing the MFDC on throughput times, number of patient hospital visits and compliance to the Dutch standard to start treatment within 30 calendar-days.
methodsData regarding 'days needed for referral', 'days needed for diagnostic procedures', 'days to start first treatment', and 'number of hospital visits' (process indicators) were retrieved from the medical records and analysed before and after implementation of the MFDC (before implementation: 2007 (n = 21), and after 2008 (n = 20), 2010 (n = 24) and 2013 (n = 24)). We used semi-structured interviews with medical specialists to explore a sample of outliers.
resultsComparing 2007 and 2008 data (before and after MFDC implementation), days needed for diagnostic procedures and to start first treatment reduced with 8 days, the number of hospital visits reduced with 1.5 visit on average. The percentage of new patients treated within the Dutch standard of 30 calendar-days after intake increased from 52 to 83%. The reduction in days needed for diagnostic procedures was sustainable. Days needed to start treatment increased in 2013. Semi-structured interviews revealed that this delay could be attributed to new treatment modalities, patients needed more time to carefully consider their treatment options or professionals needed extra preparation time for organisation of more complex treatment due to early communication on diagnostic procedures to be performed.
conclusionsA MFDC is efficient and benefits patients. We showed that the MFDC implementation in the care pathway had a positive effect on efficiency in the care pathway. As a consequence, the extra efforts of four specialist disciplines, a nurse practitioner, and a coordinating nurse seeing the patient together during intake, were justified. Start treatment times increased as a result of new treatment modalities that needed more time for preparation.
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