Economic Assessment of Patient Navigation to Improve Colonoscopy Completion

Key points

  • The University of Chicago Medical Center received CRCCP funds to implement an onsite non-nurse facilitated patient navigation program.

Overview

In 2015, CDC funded the Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP) to increase colorectal cancer screening. The University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) received CRCCP funds to implement an onsite non-nurse facilitated patient navigation program in August 2016. UCMC implemented a non-nurse patient navigation program at its medical center on the Southside of Chicago. The patient navigator introduced patients to the patient navigation process, provided basic facts about colorectal cancer screening, described bowel preparation procedures, and provided support for any barriers identified.

  • Screening colonoscopy completion increased about 11%.
  • The proportion of patients who made a colonoscopy appointment but did not attend or canceled the appointment dropped about 7%.

Citation: Kim K, Randal F, Johnson M, et al. Economic assessment of patient navigation to colonoscopy-based colorectal cancer screening in the real-world setting at the University of Chicago Medical Center.Cancer 2018;124(21):4137–4144.

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