Practices around periodic cancer screening by physicians in primary care specialties

Questionnaires and information packets were distributed to 121 physicians in primary care specialties in central Connecticut to ascertain how periodic cancer screening is performed and monitored. Results of a baseline survey of 52 respondents (51% of active practitioners) are presented here. Only one quarter of respondents noted some formal mechanism in place within their practice to encourage periodic screening of patients. We estimate that only 20-30% of physicians complete cancer screening activities during routine office visits, although respondents noted this to be the most common type of patient encounter. Relatively few physicians reported reliance on either memory aids (17%) or office staff (20%) to prompt screening recommendations. Three of four respondents noted that the sole mechanism they utilize to initiate cancer screening is physician chart review. Likewise, follow-up of scheduled screening activities relies predominantly on chart review or patient review at the time of a subsequent office visit. Use of "tickler files" or scanning of computerized records are considerably less common practices. These data suggest that physicians in primary care practices often function without specific mechanisms to facilitate performance and improve follow-up of health promoting activities.