National Insurance Services has partnered with Grand Rounds to help our clients reduce their health insurance claims. In this article, Grand Rounds discusses that high-quality physicians are more likely to provide colon cancer screenings to their patients than an average-quality physician.
Colorectal (colon) cancer is the second deadliest form of cancer.1 Public health organizations recommend that both men and women over age 50 undergo routine colonoscopies or alternative screenings. Yet 28% of people have never received a screening.2 “The National Institutes of Health considers colon cancer screening one of the most important yet widely underused preventative screenings available.”3
Communication is likely to blame as to why patients don’t understand the risk of colon cancer and the benefits of getting screened. This cancer typically has no symptoms in its early-stages, leaving preventative screenings as the only way to identify the disease and treat it before it spreads. Early detection can also greatly alter a patients’ prognosis. Five-year survival rates are 9x higher (90% vs 10%) if the cancer is detected at an early-stage.4
Grand Rounds analysis of colon cancer screening rates found that “patients seeing top-rated primary care physicians are almost 15% more likely to receive screening” than those whose doctor is rated in the bottom half.5
Is your doctor talking to you about colon cancer screenings? Learn more here.
1“Common Cancer Types,” National Cancer Institute, https://www.cancer.gov/types/common-cancers
2“Vital Signs: Colorectal Cancer Screening Test Use – United States, 2012,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6244a4.htm
3“The Importance of Colorectal Cancer Screening,” David E. Beck, MD, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3307509/
4“Consumer Reports: Colorectal cancer deaths could be cut with preventive action,” Consumers Union of United States Inc., https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/consumer-reports-colorectal-cancer-deaths-could-be-cut-with-preventive-action/2011/11/30/gIQAAx7eBR_story.html?utm_term=.0d119df85f55
5Freese, Nate. “Patients Seeing High-Quality PCPs Are More Likely to Receive Colon Cancer Screenings.” Web blog post. Grand Rounds, 17 October 2017. Web. 23 February 2018.