Oral

Clinical practice guidelines are an essential component of health care delivery in the United States. The purpose of this panel session is to help participants become better acquainted with the process for updating clinical practice guidelines for cancer screening, and to increase understanding of why updated guidelines may or may not change provider recommendations or patient behavior. Examples will be given for breast and colorectal cancer screening, 2 types of screening for which there have been recent, and often controversial, changes in guidelines.

Session Objectives: Review US Preventive Services Task Force mammography guideline process so as to increase awareness. Compare national data on primary care physicians' recommendations for breast cancer screening with the most recent US Preventive Services Task Force recommendations. Assess from national data whether primary care physicians routinely discuss with their patients the full menu of colorectal cancer screening options recommended in guidelines. Review divergent guidelines for colorectal cancer screening, their implications for underuse and overuse of screening, and recommendations for addressing underuse and overuse from the 2010 NIH State of the Science Conference on Enhancing Use and Quality of Colorectal Cancer Screening.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)