Roughly half of patients with an abnormal stool-based colorectal cancer screening result never complete the follow-up colonoscopy. For years, that statistic has been framed primarily as a public health problem.
Simon Mathews, MD, a gastroenterologist in rural Pennsylvania, believes it is also an operational one. He argues that too many healthcare organizations treat the follow-up colonoscopy as someone else’s responsibility. The result is a breakdown that leaves patients without potentially lifesaving care and creates avoidable inefficiencies throughout the system.