Medically Necessary, Time-Sensitive Procedure Decision-Making at University of Chicago Medicine

Kiran Turaga, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Surgery & Director, Surgical GI Cancer Program and Regional Therapeutics Program, and Vivek Prachand, MD, Professor of Surgery & Director, Minimally Invasive Surgery, University of Chicago Medicine. The recent pandemic of COVID-19 created an incredible strain on health systems worldwide, leading to postponements of elective surgeries.

Surgical treatment of non-COVID-19 related disease, however, still remains necessary.  Amid thoughts that “cancer doesn’t shelter at home” and when to proceed with medically necessary, time-sensitive (MeNTS) procedures, Drs. Turaga and Prachard address both the poorly understood association of time from cancer diagnosis to surgery as well as describe the scoring system developed at the University of Chicago to facilitate decision-making and triage procedures, appropriately weighing patient risks with the ethical necessity of optimizing public health concerns.

See also: REDCAP-based MeNTS Worksheet