Screening Rates Not Reaching Goals
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — The majority of older Americans are not getting cancer screenings done, according to a new study. The research also finds doctors are not recommending the tests to patients for colorectal, breast and cervical cancer.
When detected early, these three types of cancers are potentially curable. The goal of the government’s Health People 2010 plan is to improve the number of screenings. One way to track this is through Medicaid patients who are some of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens. Study authors from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill looked at data on close to 2,000 North Carolina Medicaid recipients age 50 and older.