2022 World Conference on Lung Cancer (ePosters)-EP01.04-004. Overcoming the Barriers to Lung Cancer Screening using a Systemwide Approach

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The lung cancer screening program (LCSP) at St. Elizabeth Healthcare (SEHC) has been operating since 2013 and has performed over 26,000 low-dose CT lung cancer screens. From 2015 to 2021, a total of 2,595 lung cancers were diagnosed, with 13.2% of them being detected through screening and 86.8% being non-screened. The non-screened cohort was analyzed to identify barriers and failures to meet eligibility criteria for screening.<br /><br />A database was used to extract the lung cancer patients and categorize them as screened or non-screened. The stage distribution of these patients was compared between the two groups. It was found that the screened patients showed a clear shift to early-stage cancer compared to the non-screened patients.<br /><br />A query of the non-screened patients based on the 2015 CMS criteria revealed that 33.2% were outside the screening age criteria. Among the remaining patients, 95.1% had a history of smoking cigarettes. Further analysis of the smoking history audit trail identified an additional 12.8% of non-screened patients who would have met screening criteria if their smoking history had been accurately documented.<br /><br />The study highlights that despite a relatively high success rate of screening eligible patients (49.3% in 2021), there is still a significant number of additional individuals (44.8% of the non-screened population) who could have been screened. The authors aspire to improve the capture of eligible individuals through better education, communication, accuracy of smoking history documentation, and improved adherence to screening guidelines using the electronic medical record (EMR) system and other tools.<br /><br />Overall, the findings suggest that there are barriers to successful lung cancer screening, and efforts should be made to increase the number of eligible individuals who undergo screening, in order to improve early detection and impact on the community.

Asset Subtitle

Michael Gieske

Meta Tag

Speaker Michael Gieske

Topic Early Detection and Screening - Implementation Quality Control

Keywords

lung cancer screening program

St. Elizabeth Healthcare

low-dose CT lung cancer screens

lung cancers

screening

non-screened cohort

eligibility criteria

stage distribution

smoking history

electronic medical record