PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Thuppal, Sowmyanarayanan
AU  - Hendren, Jared R.
AU  - Colle, Joni
AU  - Sapra, Amit
AU  - Bhandari, Priyanka
AU  - Rahman, Rachel
AU  - Krus-Johnston, Amanda
AU  - Hoffman, M. Rebecca
AU  - Foray, Nathalie
AU  - Hazelrigg, Stephen
AU  - Crabtree, Traves
TI  - Proactive Recruitment Strategy for Patient Identification for Lung Cancer Screening
AID  - 10.1370/afm.2905
DP  - 2023 Mar 01
TA  - The Annals of Family Medicine
PG  - 119--124
VI  - 21
IP  - 2
4099  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/21/2/119.short
4100  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/21/2/119.full
SO  - Ann Fam Med2023 Mar 01; 21
AB  - PURPOSE We assessed low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for lung cancer using a proactive patient education/recruitment program.METHODS We identified patients aged 55-80 years from a family medicine group. In the retrospective phase (March-August, 2019), patients were categorized as current/former/never smokers, and screening eligibility was determined. Patients who underwent LDCT in the past year, along with outcomes, were documented. In the prospective phase (2020), patients in the same cohort who did not undergo LDCT were proactively contacted by a nurse navigator to discuss eligibility and prescreening. Eligible and willing patients were referred to their primary care physician.RESULTS In the retrospective phase, of 451 current/former smokers, 184 (40.8%) were eligible for LDCT, 104 (23.1%) were ineligible, and 163 (36.1%) had an incomplete smoking history. Of those eligible, 34 (18.5%) had LDCT ordered. In the prospective phase, 189 (41.9%) were eligible for LDCT (150 [79.4%] of whom had no prior LDCT or diagnostic CT), 106 (23.5%) were ineligible, and 156 (34.6%) had an incomplete smoking history. The nurse navigator identified an additional 56/451 (12.4%) patients as eligible after contacting patients with incomplete smoking history. In total, 206 patients (45.7%) were eligible, an increase of 37.3% compared with the retrospective phase (150). Of these, 122 (59.2%) verbally agreed to screening, 94 (45.6%) met with their physician, and 42 (20.4%) were prescribed LDCT.CONCLUSIONS A proactive education/recruitment model increased eligible patients for LDCT by 37.3%. Proactive identification/education of patients desiring to pursue LDCT was 59.2%. It is essential to identify strategies that will increase and deliver LDCT screening among eligible and willing patients.