The American College of Radiology supports newly proposed changes to colorectal cancer screening measures.
In an announcement released Thursday, October 28th, the ACR endorsed changes to the 2022 Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) Health Plan Colorectal Cancer Screening measure. The changes recommended by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) seek to include adults ages 45-49 within colorectal cancer screening measures already in place.
Currently, the age group for initial assessment sits at 50-75. In addition, the new suggested changes include adding the Medicaid product line for reporting measurement starting in 2022.
In October 2020, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) also recommended these same age adjustments for regular check-ins, and in 2017 the inclusion of computed tomography colonography was added as an additional screening option in the hopes of reaching a wider demographic of patients who might have been uneasy about a colonoscopy.
“The ACR strongly supports the USPSTF recommendation for colorectal cancer screening. Providing patients with a variety of effective screening tools for colorectal cancer including CT Colonography encourages early detection in the fight against this deadly disease and helps save lives as well as closing the gap in colorectal screening rates between whites and minority populations,” a representative from the ACR told Health Imaging over email.
You can read the full statement here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.