Pilot Testing of a Real-Time Oncogeriatric Teleconsultation System Using the Total Cancer Care™ Database

This is a multicenter study to test a real time consultation system using the Total Cancer CareTM database (TCC) cohort at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida, USA. The purpose is to make Moffitt's expertise available to private practice oncologists throughout Florida. An oncologist seeing an older patient with a difficult case could send key patient parameters to a senior adult expert at Moffitt. The TCC concierge would extract from the TCC database patients with similar characteristics. The oncogeriatric information team (OGIT) would review those cases and provide a summary report of treatments received and outcomes. The treating oncologist could then use that as an on-demand case series to help in the decision making. In order to pilot and build up the large scale intervention, several steps are necessary. The first step was a scenario testing with vignettes, which allowed tracing the most effective way of retrieving and formatting the information. The next step will be a pilot testing of the intervention in real time with one private practice.

Primary Aims:

To assess which format of expert-vetted database consultation and patient selection is the most useful to a private practice oncologist. We will test a model of approach and gain feedback on subjective utility and objective treatment modification profiles, in order to target a future study towards the stakeholders most likely to benefit. Impact of the consultation on treatment plan (per pre-post e-mails). Availability of similar patients in the TCC database.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients aged 70 or older with a documented malignancy seen at Lynn Cancer Institute (LCI), as a new or established patient, and for whom a treatment decision has to be made.
• Signed written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Patients younger than 70 years of age
• Inability to consent
• Inability to complete the study questionnaires (assistance for physical impairments is allowed)
• Urgent treatment decision need