Two Medical Societies Developing Colonoscopy Tracking Database

Main Category: Colorectal Cancer
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Article Date: 16 Apr 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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The American College of Gastroenterology and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy are developing a database that tracks details of gastroenterologists' techniques while performing colonoscopies and other common procedures, the Wall Street Journal reports. Physicians participating in the data-reporting program have submitted information on how large a portion of the colon they examine; how many polyps, which can be precancerous, they find; and how long it takes them to withdraw the colonoscope from the colon. Research has linked longer withdrawal times to higher polyp detection rates, according to the Journal.

Irving Pike -- a gastroenterologist in Virginia Beach, Va., and chair of the project -- said that data reporting can help improve care quality. He said the database was developed in response to pay-for-performance programs that have been introduced by insurers to link quality of care to payment. The Journal reports that gastroenterologists "hope to show ... patterns and validate which metrics are the most practical and medically important to judge quality" through data reporting.

Currently, 23 medical practices have submitted data on about 4,800 colonoscopies to the project. The data are compiled voluntarily by Sentara Healthcare, but the medical societies said that they likely will hire a data-management company to take on the program as it grows. The groups also would like to track data for three other procedures: upper endoscopy; endoscopic ultrasound; and ERCP, a procedure for diagnosing and treating diseases of the pancreas and biliary tract. The medical societies in the coming months plan to discuss how to expand the program nationally (Rubenstein, Wall Street Journal, 4/15).

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