Specialist teams of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals meet regularly to discuss and plan treatment to provide the best care for patients. These regular gatherings are called multidisciplinary meetings (MDMs). The multidisciplinary team will discuss more than one patient at each meeting. The exact membership of the multidisciplinary team depends on the needs of the patients discussed. The range of health professionals in a team may be drawn from Bendigo Health and other partner hospitals and services and include:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The team will review test results and consider medical history as well as physical, psychological and social needs in order to decide the best treatment plan for you. Some team members attending the MDM may not be directly involved in your care, but often provide expert opinion during the discussion of your case. Other staff also attend the meeting, including junior doctors, administrative staff and medical students.
People with a range of medical conditions are discussed at MDMs. Your case may be discussed if the medical condition you are being tested for, or have recently been diagnosed with, has a range of treatment options available. As your condition changes your case may be reviewed again to make sure you are getting the best treatment for your needs.
After the meeting a member of your team will discuss test results and the recommended plan with you. This is a good time to ask any questions you may have and share your preferences for treatment. Together, you and your treating doctor/s make the final decision on treatment.
To provide the best care, patient information is shared and discussed amongst the team at the MDM. All meeting attendees are required to keep your information confidential. To help continue to improve patient care, information from MDMs is occasionally used for quality improvement and research activities. A summary of the team discussion and recommended treatment plan is stored in your hospital medical record. In most cases your general practitioner will also receive a summary of the discussion. If you do not wish for your information to be shared or used for these reasons please let your doctor know.
There is no out of pocket cost to you for this type of care. Specialist doctors may be able to claim from Medicare for attending the MDM. In these cases the hospital will ‘bulk bill’ Medicare on behalf of each doctor with no extra fee to be paid by you. If you do not want Medicare to be ‘bulk billed’ by the doctors involved in your case discussion, please discuss this with your doctor.
