Using the Electronic Health Record to Promote Colorectal Cancer Screening

Mailing fecal immunochemical kits to eligible patients resulted in a slightly higher rate of CRC screening than did usual care.

In 2016, only 40% of eligible patients treated at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) were up to date for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. To improve screening rates, investigators compared an outreach intervention with usual care at 26 randomized FQHCs (total, ≈40,000 adult patients). Electronic health records (EHRs) were programmed to enable staff at the intervention clinics to identify unscreened patients and mail invitations for fecal immunochemical tests (FITs), reminder letters, and labelled FIT kits.

During 12 months of follow-up in both intervention and usual care clinics, 5300 patients completed FITs. Of 721 FIT-positive patients, 427 underwent colonoscopies, and 75 had advanced adenomas or cancer. In analyses adjusted for …

Reviewing Author

Thomas L. Schwenk, MD

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Thomas L. Schwenk, MD

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Using the Electronic Health Record to Promote Colorectal Cancer Screening

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Reviewing Author