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VITAL: Delaying some screenings can be risky
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Published: April 21, 2009
"Can I put this off?"
People without health insurance may ask themselves this when it comes to routine screenings, such as colonoscopies. They might want to save the $900 to $1,200.
But doing so could put their lives at risk.
At a recent free-screening clinic, doctors at Digestive Health Specialists, or DHS, discovered one case of colon cancer and eight or nine cases of precancerous polyps among the 50 people they screened, said Peter Donaldson. Donaldson is a business administrator with DHS, a gastroenterology practice.
According to the American Cancer Society, colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers for people age 50 and older who receive regular screenings. About half of the people over 50 have not been screened.
Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death, so a colonoscopy is potentially a life-saving test, said Dr. William C. Bray, the medical director of DHS.
The practice tries to do something each year to mark colon-cancer awareness month in March. This year, the doctors decided to offer free colonoscopies at their offices in Winston-Salem, Kernersville and Thomasville to people who had lost their jobs and health insurance.
"We've seen an increasing number of people kind of questioning, ‘OK, do I really need to get screened?'" Donaldson said.
The practice sent letters to primary-care doctors, who usually refer patients to them, and advertised the screening. People who were interested filled out request forms, which were reviewed by people at the practice. The forms asked people where they had worked and when they had been laid off. One real-estate agent said that he wasn't technically unemployed, but he hadn't sold a house in a year. Would that make him eligible?
"We said, ‘Sure,'" Donaldson said.
Doctors and staff members donated money to buy the medicine patients needed to take to prepare for the procedure -- a cost of about $10 for every patient -- and doctors donated their time. The screenings cost the practice $15,000 to $20,000, Donaldson said. The patients were mostly between 50 and 60. One patient, a man in his 60s, had not been to a doctor since he had his physical for high school, he told doctors.
"We find that particularly with males; it's a spouse encouraging them to get screened," Donaldson said.
The patient whose colonoscopy revealed cancer was referred to Salem Surgical Associates for further evaluation and treatment, he said. The precancerous polyps were removed from the other patients.
"Hopefully, that will keep them from further cancerous growths and encourage them to get rescreened again in a couple of years," he said.
■ Janice Gaston can be reached at 727-7364 or at jgaston@wsjournal.com.
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