Can a Multidisciplinary Endocrine Clinic be Beneficial for Patients and Surgeons?

Abstract

Background

Multidisciplinary clinics are expected to improve patient care by enhancing efficiency for both patients and care providers. We hypothesized that while these clinics are an efficient use of time for patients, they can limit a surgeon’s productivity.

Methods

A retrospective review was performed for patients evaluated in a Multidisciplinary Endocrine Tumor Clinic (MDETC) and Multidisciplinary Thyroid Cancer Clinic (MDTCC) from 2018 to 2021. Time from evaluation to surgery and prevalence of surgery were evaluated. Patients were compared to those evaluated in a surgeon-only endocrine surgery clinic (ESC) from 2017 to 2021. Chi-square and t-tests were used to test significance.

Results

Patients referred to the ESC underwent surgery more often than those referred to either multidisciplinary clinic (ESC 79.5%, MDETC 24.6%, MDTCC 7%; P < .001) but had a significantly longer delay between appointment and operation (ESC 19.9 days, MDETC 3.3 days, MDTCC 16.4 days; P < .001). Patients had a longer wait from referral to appointment for the MDCs (ESC 22.6 days, MDETC: 44.5, MDTCC 33; P < .05). There was no significant difference in miles traveled by patients to any clinic.

Conclusion

Multidisciplinary clinics can provide fewer appointments and faster time to surgery for patients but may lead to longer wait time from referral to appointment and fewer overall surgeries than endocrine surgeon-only clinics.