Researchers find variations in lung cancer screening practices

With deaths from lung cancer at an all-time high, a team of researchers looked at recommended guidelines for lung cancer screening, referral patterns and patient tracking methods in various CT facilities in North Carolina.

Researchers conducting the cross-sectional study, published their findings in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. They reached out via survey to 112 American College of Radiology CT facilities for both academic and community settings purposes.

Of the 48 surveys returned, 35 percent were part of a large hospital network, 21 percent were accounted for private solo or group practices, 21 percent were freestanding clinics, 33 percent were hospital emergency or outpatient departments, and 6 percent were other.

“In our study, 70.8 percent of facilities with a screening program in place in 2015 reported using ACT/CMS guidelines for screening patients,” wrote the authors. “In contrast, Boiselle et al. found that among academic medical centers in 2015, 35 percent used National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) criteria, 24 percent used CMS and 24 percent used the United States Preventive Services Task Force to identify and decide which patients to screen. A 2014 survey to Lung Cancer Screening Alliance members found that 40 percent of respondents used the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and 32 percent used the NLST screening eligibility guidelines.”

In addition, more than 25 percent of CT facilities that had a screening program were neglecting the systematic method used to track patients. The team of researchers found that there were variations between facilities and recommended these differences be addressed.

“Implementing standardized screening practices to provide consistent patient eligibility determination, referral patterns, and tracking mechanisms will be critical to ensuring appropriate care for screened individuals,” wrote the researchers.