Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The concept of collaborative thyroid care clinics (or networks), have been established over the last two decades, in many parts of the world.

Objective: What are the main available components of collaborative community-based integrated thyroid programs in the Mississauga-Halton regions [West Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Ontario, Canada], that can provide opportunities for streamlining thyroid care?

Method: Reviewing the available local resources through relevant websites (https://www.mississaugahaltonhealthline.ca) and comparison to the established benchmarks through literature review. A systematic literature search was performed using PubMed/Google Scholar databases, with several combinations of MeSH terms. Bibliography mining was also done on relevant articles to be as inclusive as possible.

Results: The main components of collaborative thyroid clinics from literature search are: thyroid ultrasound clinics, endocrinologists, thyroid fine needle aspiration (FNA)/ cytology facilities, thyroid surgery/pathology facilities, radioactive iodine treatment/nuclear medicine, radiation therapy and medical oncology treatment facilities. Availabilities of the aforementioned resources in the Mississauga-Halton regions community: Resources available in both community-based and hospital-based settings: thyroid ultrasound centers (more than 30), endocrinologists (more than 20). Resources only available in hospital-based settings: thyroid FNA/cytology facilities (5-6 sites), thyroid surgery/pathology facilities (3 sites), radioactive iodine treatment/nuclear medicine (3 sites), radiation therapy and medical oncology treatment facilities (3 sites). Target population: Mississauga-Halton regions, Ontario, Canada [Health region, December 2017]: 1,164,740 persons [https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016]

Potential benefits of collaborative thyroid programs in the Mississauga-Halton regions community:

• streamlined treatment pathways and reduction in duplication of services

• shorter timeframes to interventions, concurrent consultations, less travel time, reduction in healthcare access disparities

• improved coordination of care and data sharing/access to information

• educational and research opportunities for health professionals

Conclusion: Collaborative thyroid care clinics present many potential positive outcomes for patients, healthcare providers and the health care system. They also have the potential to reduce healthcare costs, wait times, and health disparities, and can lead to evidence-based/data driven healthcare delivery.