Enhancing Primary Care Workflows To Improve Lung Cancer Screening Engagement For Low-Income Patients
Description: California has led the nation in reducing tobacco use and in reducing deaths from lung cancer. However, 2.7 million Californians continue to smoke, and lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. California has excelled at preventing tobacco use, the leading cause of lung cancer, but ranks near the bottom of US states in identifying tobacco users at increased risk, providing recommended screening, and delivering treatment to anyone identified with lung cancer. Reductions in tobacco use and incidence of lung cancer vary dramatically across communities in California, and the burden of tobacco-related lung cancer is greatest among racial and ethnic minorities and those with low income. Importantly, primary care provider perceptions of the priority of tobacco screening and linkage to lung cancer may not align with actual need. A new primary care support structure is needed to guide busy providers through systematic identification of tobacco use and linkage to lung cancer screening, making the process easier to traverse than to avoid. Implementation of new care support structures within Federally Qualified Health Centers serving primarily low-income communities ensures screening and linkage to care for those groups that bear a higher burden of tobacco-related disease than the general population. Within a community-academic partnership, we propose to conduct an in-depth evaluation of current systems of care for identifying tobacco use, patient and provider acceptability of lung cancer screening, and identification of modifiable barriers to screening, tobacco treatment, and needed follow-up treatment resulting from positive screening results. Data from in-depth interviews with patients and providers and review of the electronic medical record will help determine which strategies may work best for whom. Results from this study will advance health equity by identifying best practices to overcome barriers to lung cancer screening and by equipping low-income smokers with tailored screening and disease management services. This research is a collaboration between Family Health Centers of San Diego (FHCSD) and UC San Diego. It is led by Principal Investigators Dr. Strong at UC San Diego and Dr. Godino at FHCSD. Co-Investigators include Dr. Brouwer, Dr. Gupta, and Dr. Myers at UC San Diego, and Dr. Smoot at FHCSD.
Amount: $1,349,000
Start date: 2025-07-01
Investigators: David Strong, David Strong, Job Godino
Institutions: The Regents of the University of California, San Diego, Family Health Centers of San Diego
Funded outputs count: 0
Funder award ID: g966k7
OpenAlex ID: G54009139