Tumor Conference Saviors

Barbara Arritt and Justin Gortmann ride to the rescue of several dozen patients, and as many oncology care providers! Carilion Clinic hosts a half dozen cancer conferences every week, and the every day work of fighting cancer has its front line start there. The patient's case is posted, and then our pathologists and radiologists show the images to a team of clinicians: nurses, chemotherapy docs, radiation docs, surgeons, medical specialists, navigators, genetics, dentists, therapists, learners...

With the social distancing and restrictions on large meetings there needed to be a near immediate solution so cancer care can go on in the well coordinated fashion we have all grown to expect. Our conference rooms needed crystal clear sound, and pictures and our first try on Monday didn't go so well.  Barbara teamed up with Justin and together they worked through the technical problems one by one, and by Wednesday morning a new paradigm emerged.

In less than two days the pathologist was working in his office reviewing tissue slides on his microscope, and by "sharing image" it showed up in vivid color in the conference room. As he showed us the cancer on the glass slide we could hear him as if in the room. Then the radiologist did the same and soon we moved on to the next case. There is no replacing having all the hands that will touch a patient working in alignment and the tumor boards meet every week to accomplish this.

Well done Barbara and Justin. Monday was a bomb, and by Wednesday we were carrying out the work of oncology as well as before, but now the conference room has just a handful on site, with the rest remoting in from their offices. Not to mention this will forever improve productive use of the day.