Outreach for Patients That Are Newly Eligible for Colorectal Cancer Screening (UPQUAL)

Using Precision Performance Measurement To Conduct Focused Quality Improvement. Sub-study 2

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether patient outreach is effective at increasing compliance with preventative screenings for those patients who, based on national quality standards, have become newly eligible for screening measures. We hypothesize that educational outreach may increase completion rates.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Colorectal Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Letter Only; Behavioral: Letter and Educational DVD

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
      • Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation General Internal Medicine Clinic

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 50 years to 50 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient of Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation General Internal Medicine
• Patient has a scheduled appointment with a GIM physician in the next several weeks
• Patient will be 50 years old at the time of this appointment
• Patient is male or female

Exclusion Criteria:

• This is the first time the patient is seen in the NMFF GIM clinic
• There is a prior completion of CRC screening noted in EHR.
• There is a prior order placed for CRC screening in EHR.
• Patient has a history of CRC
• Patient has a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's Disease, or documented colectomy.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Usual Care; Usual Care. Participants in this arm will receive Usual care until outcome assessment is performed at 6 months following randomization. At that time, they will be sent a letter reminding them to obtain the ordered preventative service test, however no further outcomes will be assessed. Thus, during the course of the study, all participants in this arm will have solely received usual care.
Experimental: Behavioral: Letter Only; Behavioral: Letter Only Prior to a scheduled upcoming appointment, participants will get a letter signed by their physician that provides brief information about colorectal cancer (CRC) and notes the importance of CRC screening.	Behavioral: Letter Only; Prior to a scheduled upcoming appointment, participants will get a letter signed by their physician that provides brief information about colorectal cancer (CRC) and notes the importance of CRC screening.
Experimental: Behavioral: Letter and Educational DVD; Behavioral: Letter and Educational DVD Participants will get a letter from their physician that provides brief information about colorectal cancer (CRC) and notes the importance of CRC screening. It will be accompanied by an educational DVD about the screening. The participants will receive this prior to a scheduled upcoming appointment with their physician.	Behavioral: Letter and Educational DVD; Participants will get a letter from their physician that provides brief information about colorectal cancer (CRC) and notes the importance of CRC screening. It will be accompanied by an educational DVD about the screening. The participants will receive this prior to a scheduled upcoming appointment with their physician.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Completion of CRC Screening	What would have been reported as this Outcome Measure is the number of participants who completed screening. We planned to review electronic health records of participants 6 months post randomization to look for either: (1) note in free text MD note documenting receipt of one form of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening during study period or (2)lab results from fecal occult blood test, sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy. Screening completion equaled presence of a lab result or physician note in chart. No patient charts were reviewed due to low accrual.	6 months from initial contact

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The Secondary Outcome for the Study is the Time to Screening Completion.	This Outcome Measure would have reported the length of time, measured in days, that occurred between the date of randomization and the completed screening date. We planned to review the electronic health records of participants 6 months post randomization to look for either: (1)note in free text MD note documenting receipt of one form of CRC screening during study period or (2)lab results from fecal occult blood test, sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy. Screening completion equaled presence of a lab result or physician note in chart. No patient charts were reviewed due to low accrual.	6 months after randomization

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Northwestern University
• Collaborators: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kenzie Cameron, PhD, Northwestern University, Department of General Internal Medicine

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2009
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2009
• Study Completion (Actual): December 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 11, 2009
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 11, 2009
• First Posted (Estimate): March 12, 2009

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): December 5, 2011
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 30, 2011
• Last Verified: November 1, 2011

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: education; screening; Prevention & Control; Colorectal Cancer Screening; preventive service
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Colonic Diseases; Intestinal Diseases; Intestinal Neoplasms; Rectal Diseases; Colorectal Neoplasms
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1R18HS017163-02 (U.S. AHRQ Grant/Contract)