How Do Interdisciplinary Collaborations Improve Pediatric Patient Outcomes?

As a pediatric neurologist, I frequently contribute to the treatment of patients with multi-organ system diseases such as mitochondrial disease which can result in polyneuropathy, myopathy, epilepsy, and various other comorbidities. Patients with mitochondrial disease have defects in mitochondrial metabolism resulting in many of their organs not producing enough energy to function well, which requires interdisciplinary care from their primary care physician, neurologist, and other subspecialists such as developmental pediatricians, ophthalmologists, cardiologists, surgeons, gastroenterologists, pulmonologists, endocrinologists, and palliative care physicians. Patients with mitochondrial disease have risk for associated gastrointestinal dysmotility, cardiac arrhythmia, diabetes, fatigue, and failure to thrive in addition to their neurologic disease. Primary care physicians serve as coordinators of patient care, while subspecialists contribute to the treatment of mitochondrial disease complications to improve the quality of life of these complex patients. Interdisciplinary clinics are helpful for families of children with mitochondrial disease as this reduces appointments and trips to the hospital in favor of seeing multiple specialists in one day. Discussions in multidisciplinary clinics may also reduce polypharmacy, improve communication between the family and their team, and increase compliance with diagnostic and therapeutic treatment plans, improving patient outcomes.