Capsule Commentary on Mehta et al. Race/Ethnicity and Adoption of a Population Health Management Approach to Colorectal Cancer Screening in a Community-Based Healthcare System

Excerpt

When colon cancer screening is available by patient request but is not actively offered to patients, patients who are more knowledgeable and more comfortable interacting with the health system will be more likely to receive it.1 Programs that reduce the role of patient initiative should reduce variation in screening rates due to patient characteristics such as race. Kaiser Permanente of Northern California put this theory to the test by implementing a program, including automated medical alerts and mailed FIT tests, to increase colon cancer screening rates among enrollees.2 The components of the program were consistent with evidenced-based recommendations for increasing screening by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Community Preventive Services Task Force.3 As a fully integrated delivery system, Kaiser has the ability to implement programs that other systems, many of which are striving to become more like Kaiser, do not. Still, many of the features of this particular program could be adopted by other health systems or large primary care practices. …