FluFIT Program Increases Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates
American Cancer Society’s FluFIT Program is an innovative way to increase colorectal cancer screenings in primary care settings. When patients come in for their annual flu shot, clinic staff provide a Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) kit to those who are also due for colorectal cancer screening. FITs look for hidden blood in the stool, an indicator of colorectal cancer.
A study conducted at San Francisco General Hospital showed a dramatic increase in colorectal cancer screenings after implementing a FluFIT Campaign. At the conclusion of flu season, participants in the intervention group who received both a flu vaccine and FIT kit showed an increase in colorectal cancer screening rates from 54.5% at baseline to 84.3% at the conclusion of the study (Phengrasamy et al., 2009)
Steps to implementation:
- Select a FluFIT Champion.
- Establish buy-in from providers, staff and patients.
- Create a clinic work-flow process and data capture plan.
- Plan a kick-off date for fall to align with flu campaigns.
- Order FIT kits in advance.
- Train staff on FIT instructions and FluFIT process.
- Strongly consider reminder outreach to patients.
- Assist all FIT-positive patients with colonoscopy completion.
- Assess data after completion of campaign.
Learn more here.