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Abstract

The Pituitary and Neuroendocrine Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, offers a multidisciplinary program for patients with pituitary disorders. The multidisciplinary model includes neuroendocrinologists, neuro-ophthalmologists, otolaryngologists, neuroradiologists, and neurosurgeons who collaborate to provide comprehensive patient care. The model has yielded high patient satisfaction and improved patient outcomes due to the integration of specialists while also increasing communication and collaboration among the care team.

Introduction

Providing comprehensive, coordinated care is a common goal for health care institutions and systems. This can be difficult to fund and implement in practice, especially within the confines of a given health care system that may be riddled with fragmentation. There are multiple patient populations whose care requires multidisciplinary specialized neurology expertise, such as patients with neuroendocrine and pituitary disorders (the third most common benign brain tumor). These patients would benefit from a comprehensive, coordinated approach where they have access to the various facets of their care in a coordinated, “one-stop shop” type of clinic.

The AAN’s Care Delivery Subcommittee, under the guidance of the Medical Economics and Practice Committee, continues to seek out and to better understand different and complex care delivery models, their core functions, and features, as well as the professional and personal advantages and disadvantages of these models for neurologists and neurology APPs. The subcommittee’s own Dr. Mary Angela O’Neali from Brigham and Women’s Hospital shared her insights on their multidisciplinary Pituitary and Neuroendocrine Center featuring comprehensive care for patients with pituitary disorders.