Outreach for Patients That Are Newly Eligible for Colorectal Cancer Screening

Northwestern University60 enrolled

Overview

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether patient outreach is effective at increasing compliance with preventative screenings for those patients who, based on national quality standards, have become newly eligible for screening measures. We hypothesize that educational outreach may increase completion rates.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Colorectal Cancer

Interventions

Letter OnlyBEHAVIORAL

Prior to a scheduled upcoming appointment, participants will get a letter signed by their physician that provides brief information about colorectal cancer (CRC) and notes the importance of CRC screening.

Letter and Educational DVDBEHAVIORAL

Participants will get a letter from their physician that provides brief information about colorectal cancer (CRC) and notes the importance of CRC screening. It will be accompanied by an educational DVD about the screening. The participants will receive this prior to a scheduled upcoming appointment with their physician.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 50 YearsMax age: 50 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Patient of Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation General Internal Medicine * Patient has a scheduled appointment with a GIM physician in the next several weeks * Patient will be 50 years old at the time of this appointment * Patient is male or female Exclusion Criteria: * This is the first time the patient is seen in the NMFF GIM clinic * There is a prior completion of CRC screening noted in EHR. * There is a prior order placed for CRC screening in EHR. * Patient has a history of CRC * Patient has a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's Disease, or documented colectomy.

Locations (1)

Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation General Internal Medicine Clinic

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Completion of CRC Screening

What would have been reported as this Outcome Measure is the number of participants who completed screening. We planned to review electronic health records of participants 6 months post randomization to look for either: (1) note in free text MD note documenting receipt of one form of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening during study period or (2)lab results from fecal occult blood test, sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy. Screening completion equaled presence of a lab result or physician note in chart. No patient charts were reviewed due to low accrual.

Time frame: 6 months from initial contact

Secondary Outcomes

The Secondary Outcome for the Study is the Time to Screening Completion.

This Outcome Measure would have reported the length of time, measured in days, that occurred between the date of randomization and the completed screening date. We planned to review the electronic health records of participants 6 months post randomization to look for either: (1)note in free text MD note documenting receipt of one form of CRC screening during study period or (2)lab results from fecal occult blood test, sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy. Screening completion equaled presence of a lab result or physician note in chart. No patient charts were reviewed due to low accrual.

Time frame: 6 months after randomization

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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