Implementation of a virtual multicenter gastrointestinal tumor board to reduce cancer disparities in Argentina

Abstract

Given the increasing complexity of cancer care, multidisciplinary tumor boards have become essential in daily clinical oncology practice. The Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) initiative developed an innovative telementoring model using a "hub and spoke" design consisting of a team of experts (hub) that offers a full service to multiple participants (the spokes) during regularly scheduled sessions discussing patients' clinical cases. The Alexander Fleming Cancer Institute in Buenos Aires was the first hub in Latin America to implement Project ECHO for gastrointestinal tumors. In our 3-year experience, 80 patients from 37 centers were evaluated within Project ECHO and a range of three to five cases were discussed in each meeting. From our perspective, the impact of this novel approach was a remarkable strategy to reduce care disparities by equalizing access to high-quality medical knowledge in a multidisciplinary environment for medical discussions. Additionally, it was shown to have a cost-effective impact directly on the patients and the local health system, since relevant costs were saved after unnecessary treatments, studies and travel expenses were avoided.

Keywords: Cancer disparities; Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes project; Gastrointestinal; Oncology; Tumor board; Virtual.

Figure 1

Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes hub and spoke model. Citation: ECHO. Project ECHO. [cited 11 August 2021]. Available from: https://hsc.unm.edu/echo/. Copyright^© Project ECHO 2022. Published by ECHO.