More than 40 of the nation’s leading gastroenterologists and allied health care professionals participated in a summit that the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) hosted at its Institute for Training and Technology last week as part of the ASGE Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Screening Project.
The ASGE project is designed to develop a financially sustainable model that can be replicated across the United States to ensure that uninsured and underinsured patients who have a positive stool-based CRC screening test get a timely follow-up colonoscopy.
“The percentage of patients with a positive-stool based colorectal cancer screening test who get a follow-up colonoscopy is only 50 to 70 percent,” says ASGE President Jennifer Christie, MD, FASGE. “ Sadly, the percentage is even lower for underserved groups. “This is simply unacceptable.”
The ASGE project will also focus on developing a roadmap to help patients navigate the CRC care process from beginning to end – including screening, follow-up, and treatment (if applicable). Additionally, we will continue to educate lawmakers on the need for funding for follow-up colonoscopies in uninsured populations.
ASGE’s project will sponsor developmental pilot programs in Georgia and Maryland in 2024, with a goal of moving into the legislative implementation phase in 2025.
The summit featured speakers who addressed an array of crucial issues, including advocacy, research, innovation in screening, barriers, patient navigation and best practices from the work that is currently underway.
“This project is a critical initiative that will have enormous benefit for the underserved community in the US. As a community, we need to come together to develop additional solutions at the community, system and individual level. The implications of lack of action are significant, particularly for this community,” said Dr Christie.
ASGE also hosted two state-level summits this summer on the topics with state legislators and key stakeholders in Georgia and Maryland.
The project is being funded with an unrestricted grant from Exact Sciences.