• Sowmyanarayanan Thuppal, Jared R Hendren, Joni Colle, Amit Sapra, Priyanka Bhandari, Rachel Rahman, Amanda Krus-Johnston, M Rebecca Hoffman, Nathalie Foray, Stephen Hazelrigg, and Traves Crabtree.
• Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Southern Illinois School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois.
• Ann Fam Med. 2023 Mar 1; 21 (2): 119124119-124.

PurposeWe assessed low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for lung cancer using a proactive patient education/recruitment program.MethodsWe identified patients aged 55-80 years from a family medicine group. In the retrospective phase (March-August, 2019), patients were categorized as current/former/never smokers, and screening eligibility was determined. Patients who underwent LDCT in the past year, along with outcomes, were documented. In the prospective phase (2020), patients in the same cohort who did not undergo LDCT were proactively contacted by a nurse navigator to discuss eligibility and prescreening. Eligible and willing patients were referred to their primary care physician.ResultsIn the retrospective phase, of 451 current/former smokers, 184 (40.8%) were eligible for LDCT, 104 (23.1%) were ineligible, and 163 (36.1%) had an incomplete smoking history. Of those eligible, 34 (18.5%) had LDCT ordered. In the prospective phase, 189 (41.9%) were eligible for LDCT (150 [79.4%] of whom had no prior LDCT or diagnostic CT), 106 (23.5%) were ineligible, and 156 (34.6%) had an incomplete smoking history. The nurse navigator identified an additional 56/451 (12.4%) patients as eligible after contacting patients with incomplete smoking history. In total, 206 patients (45.7%) were eligible, an increase of 37.3% compared with the retrospective phase (150). Of these, 122 (59.2%) verbally agreed to screening, 94 (45.6%) met with their physician, and 42 (20.4%) were prescribed LDCT.ConclusionsA proactive education/recruitment model increased eligible patients for LDCT by 37.3%. Proactive identification/education of patients desiring to pursue LDCT was 59.2%. It is essential to identify strategies that will increase and deliver LDCT screening among eligible and willing patients.© 2023 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.

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