Mobile Program Brings Lung Cancer Screening to Patients
Posted: Friday, July 17, 2020
A mobile lung cancer screening program with low-dose computed tomography (CT) that brings screening directly to patients at risk, including underserved rural areas, appears to be a viable option despite financial and logistical challenges. In a 12-month feasibility study published in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Jeremiah Smith, ACNP, of the CHI Memorial Chest and Lung Cancer Center, Chattanooga, and colleagues developed a program that screened 548 patients at 104 sites across rural Tennessee and north Georgia.
“The mobile program brings the imaging center to the patient,” explained James R. Headrick, Jr, MD, MBA, also of CHI Memorial. “Insured and employed as well as uninsured and unemployed individuals were screened.”
A team was assembled to establish the lung screening program, including the task of building a bus from scratch that fit the “Breathe Easy” project’s needs. After 8 months of construction, the clinical team began traveling within a 2-hour radius of the medical center for screenings in various locations—including places of employment, churches, or restaurant parking lots.
The mean age of screened patients was 62 years, and the mean pack-years of smoking was 41. Of the 548 patients screened over a 10-month period, significant pulmonary findings were seen in almost 10%. Lung cancers were identified in five patients; four of them were early stage. In addition, nonpulmonary results were found in 152 of the individuals screened, with moderate to severe coronary artery disease identified in 101 patients.
Financially, the program exceeded the break-even analysis by 28%. Four additional years of projected data estimated a net present value of 1 million and an internal rate of return of 34.6%.
“It’s only through conversations and efforts such as the Breathe Easy program that we are going to erase the stigma surrounding lung cancer and change the survival rates,” concluded Dr. Headrick.
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
