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The Cancer You Can Beat
The incidence of colorectal cancer fell by more than one-third in the United States between 1985 and 2005—mostly because more people were screened for the disease.
The incidence of colorectal cancer fell by more than one-third in the United States between 1985 and 2005—mostly because more people were screened for the disease.
Archive of Internal Medicine
Automated telephone outreach with speech recognition (ATO-SR) is used extensively by health plans. Whether ATO-SR can increase rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is unknown. We randomly allocated 40 000 health plan members to ATO-SR and 40 000 to usual care, of whom 10 432 and 10 506 in the intervention and usual care groups, respectively.
How Often Will Medicare Pay for Colon Cancer Screening?
You say that Medicare will cover colonoscopies at no cost to the patient as of January 2011. However, it is not clear whether the 120-month limitation for a repeat asymptomatic colonoscopy will remain, or whether (as many physicians advise) a colonoscopy will be covered after only seven or eight years since the prior one. Also, you speak of the recommendation for colonscopies for people between 50 and 75. Does the coverage not apply for those over 75? — Warren S. Poland, M.D.