Educational and consultative functions, topics, and methods of hospital general tumor conferences.

The educational and consultative functions, topics, and methods of 20 hospital general tumor conferences in Colorado were studied over a three-year period. Methods used included questionnaires completed by hospital admitting staff members, by tumor conference directors, and by conference attendees. Workshops were held in which a multidisciplinary panel of physicians, nurses, and cancer registrars discussed the educational and patient-management aspects of tumor conferences with tumor conference directors. The study design included evaluation of the effects of providing certain teaching aids, including newsletters, Physician Data Query printouts, and tumor registry data on the functions, topics, and methods of the conferences. Although certain temporal trends were suggested, the handouts as employed added little of perceived effectiveness for the busy clinicians attending. The characteristics of the tumor conferences were analyzed according to hospital size, presence of one or more residency programs, and location (metropolitan or otherwise). One observation was that relatively few primary care physicians attended these tumor conferences, especially those in large hospitals, and approaches to meeting the needs of that group are discussed. The importance of the interpersonal skills of the tumor conference director in the effectiveness of the conference was very evident.