While population-based cancer screening has demonstrated its value, there’s no question that screening could use improvement. Two new studies this week show how to improve on one of screening’s biggest challenges: getting patients to attend their follow-up exams.
In the first study in JACR, researchers from the University of Rochester wanted to see if notifying people about actionable findings shortly after screening exams had an impact on follow-up rates. Patients were notified within one to three weeks after the radiology report was completed.
They also examined different methods for patient communication, including snail-mail letters, notifications from Epic’s MyChart electronic patient portal, and phone calls. In approximately 2.5k patients within one month of due date, they found that follow-up adherence rates varied for each outreach method as follows:
- Phone calls – 60%
- Letters – 57%
- Controls – 53%
- MyChart notifications – 36%
(The researchers noted that the COVID-19 pandemic may have disproportionately affected those in the MyChart group.)
Fortunately, the university uses natural language processing-based software called Backstop to make sure no follow-up recommendations fall through the cracks.
- Backstop includes Nuance’s mPower technology to identify actionable findings from unstructured radiology reports; it triggers notifications to both primary care providers and patients about the need to complete follow-up.
Once the full round of Backstop notifications had taken place, compliance rates rose and there was no statistically significant difference between how patients got the early notification: letter (89%), phone (91%), MyChart (90%), and control (88%).
In the second study, researchers in JAMA described how they used automated algorithms to analyze EHR data from 12k patients to identify those eligible for follow-up for cancer screening exams.
- They then tested three levels of intervention to get people to their exams, ranging from EHR reminders to outreach to patient navigation to all three.
Patients who got EHR reminders, outreach, and navigation or EHR reminders and outreach had the highest follow-up completion rates at 120 days compared to usual care (31% for both vs. 23%). Rates were similar to usual care for those who only got EHR reminders (23%).
The Takeaway
This week’s studies indicate that while health technology is great, it’s how you use it that matters. While IT tools can identify the people who need follow-up, it’s up to healthcare personnel to make sure patients get the care they need.
