Maryland ASGE Citation by Senator Clarence Lam, M.D.	Maryland ASGE Resolution by Senator Clarence Lam, M.D.	Maryland ASGE Citation by Delegate Terri Hill, M.D.

ASGE Colorectal Cancer Screening Project: Increasing Rate of Colonoscopy Follow-up Among Underserved 

ASGE has embarked on this Colorectal Cancer Screening Project to develop a financially sustainable model that can be replicated across the U.S. to ensure patients in minority or otherwise underserved populations who have a positive stool-based colorectal cancer screening test get a timely follow-up colonoscopy.

The overall colorectal cancer screening rate in the U.S. has increased in the last 10 years, but the number of uninsured or underinsured people who get a colonoscopy after they’ve had a positive stool-based test remains unacceptably low – at just 50 percent to 70 percent.

This low adherence rate is attributed to a diverse mix of clinical and non-clinical barriers, including a lack of awareness among patients and health care professionals, local conditions and legislative and regulatory policies.  

More than 130,000 Americans are diagnosed with colorectal cancer every year, and nearly 50,000 of them die from the disease. Yet, colorectal cancer has a 90 percent survival rate when it’s detected early enough, so this project has an immense potential to save lives.

View their website here.