Provider Recommendation: Influence on Colorectal Cancer Screening

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer related death yet is one of the most preventable. The goal of the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable and the United States Preventive Services Task Force is that 80% of eligible patients will be screened by the year 2018. Provider recommendation has a positive impact on colorectal cancer screening rates. Methods: Completion of colorectal cancer screening rates after use of a provider standard scripted recommendation versus usual care was compared. Post intervention retrospective chart review was conducted to evaluate the percentage of patients who completed colorectal cancer screenings. Design: A pre- and post -intervention design was utilized to establish a correlation between the standard script recommendation versus usual care on completion rates. Population/Setting: A convenience sample of patients ages 50-75 who were reported as noncompliant and seen during a 3-month period in 2017 received the intervention. They were compared to patients who received usual care in a similar period prior to the intervention. Data Collection/Implementation Plan: The clinic’s information technology department provided a list of all patients between ages 50-75 who had not completed screening confirmed by chart review. Analysis: A two-sample chi-square test examining provider recommendation using a standard script and usual care showed no significant difference (p > 0.005, 95%), (Fisher’s Exact p = 0.156, N = 169). Descriptive statistics revealed White men had the highest rates of completing screening after receiving a recommendation from their provider in the usual manner.