Increasing Primary Care Physician Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates

The purpose of the study is to determine if a Web-based intervention increases physician rates of colorectal cancer recommendation rates in a group of physicians participating in the American Board of Internal Medicine's Maintenance of Certification Program. This study will also compare the content of practice improvement plans submitted by the diplomats in each study arm to determine the components of the plans that are associated with colorectal cancer rates.

Colorectal cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. Although colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) is effective, cost-effective and consistently recommended by clinical practice guidelines, only 57.3% of the adults over 50 years have been screened within the recommended interval. Preliminary research conducted by this PI demonstrates that approximately 90% of patients who have not had CRCS report that a doctors recommendation would motivate them to undergo screening. However, research also shows that physicians do not consistently recommend CRCS to each eligible patient. In this study the barriers of and facilitators to physician recommendation of CRCS are tested in the to proposed randomized controlled trial. The trial will pilot test an interactive, multifaceted, Web-based intervention (eToolbox) to increase primary care physician rates of CRCS. This application innovatively proposes to pilot test the eToolbox in the setting of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification process within the Preventive Services Practice Improvement Module, a physician-directed measurement of their performance and quality improvement requirement for board re-certification.