The Road Ahead: What if Gastroenterologists Were Accountable for Preventing Colorectal Cancer?

Gastroenterologists traditionally have focused on providing high-quality colonoscopy in response to primary care physicians' referral of patients needing colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. As we travel down the Road towards "Accountable" Care and clinical integration, we (gastroenterologists) are increasingly becoming members of a team that is responsible for reducing CRC incidence and mortality for a population of patients. As Lee and his colleagues have forcefully demonstrated in this month's article, an organized approach to CRC screening using both colonoscopy and stool-based testing can result in extraordinarily high rates of screening and CRC prevention. They have thrown down the challenge for all other US health care systems. Can your system "Mind the Gap"?