AZ Maria Middelares involves the general practitioner more closing in the Multidisciplinary Oncology Consultation through videoconferencing.
Ghent hospital AZ Maria Middelares is convinced that constructive cooperation with the general practitioner leads to better healthcare. Marc Monballieu, Director of Information and Communication Technology, and Dr. Donald Claeys, Head of Surgery, explain how their hospital involves the GP in Multidisciplinary Oncology Consultation (MOC). The GP monitors his patient closely and has a lot of relevant and valuable information, including the patient’s physical, psychological and social state, which otherwise may be more difficult to assess for the treating team. The involvement of the GP is also essentially important here for communication with the family.
Although participation in an MOC is included in the nomenclature and so the GP receives payment for attending the hospital, it is not always easy in practice for the GP to be present. The problem primarily lies in the valuable time that the GP wastes during his journey to and from the hospital. AZ Maria Middelares has adopted a videoconferencing application to allow the general practitioner to participate actively in his patients’ MOC without the need to travel to the Ghent campus for this. The meeting room where the doctors gather for an MOC is equipped with a Tandberg videoconferencing system. Belgacom provided the installation. For his part, the GP just needs a PC with a broadband connection, webcam and headset. The project’s goal is not to keep the general practitioner away from the hospital for an MOC. On the contrary, the solution makes it possible specifically to reach the doctors who previously never or hardly ever came to take part in an MOC.
As a result of the GP’s greater involvement the patient can count on optimum consultation between the treating doctors inside and outside the hospital. It also represents a substantial time saving for the doctor. AZ Maria Middelares has achieved a Belgian first here in cooperation with Belgacom and with support from Riziv.
