| Characteristics | Physician Group | |
|---|---|---|
| Low Screeners* (n = 8) | High Screeners† (n = 16) | |
| Patients in the physician's panel who are eligible for CRC screening,‡ n (range) | 547 (96–928) | 545 (73–944) |
| Patients screened for CRC in 2005 (range) | 42.1 (38.3–44.9) | 64.8 (60.9–70.2) |
| Physician demographics | ||
| Year graduated from medical school (range) | 1984 (1970–2001) | 1982 (1972–1998) |
| Men | 75.0 | 50.0 |
| Training and practice characteristics | ||
| Years employed at Group Health, n (range) | 15 (1.5–23) | 17 (3–30) |
| Panel patients by age | ||
| 0–18 years | 12.6 | 10.9 |
| 19–49 years | 46.7 | 42.8 |
| 50–64 years | 28.2 | 30.6 |
| 65–79 years | 9.4 | 10.8 |
| ≥80 years | 3.1 | 4.9 |
| Patients seen each week, mean n (range)§ | 75 (40–95) | 67 (50–100) |
| Trained in flexible sigmoidoscopy∥ | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Performed flexible sigmoidoscopy | 12.5 | 18.8 |
Values provided as percentages unless otherwise indicated.
↵* Low screeners are the physicians whose patient panels had CRC screening rates of ≤45%.
↵† High screeners are the physicians whose patient panels had CRC screening rates of ≥60%.
↵‡ Based on HEDIS criteria: number of patients in the physician's panel aged 50 to 80 years on December 31, 2005, and continuously enrolled in 2005 with no more than one gap in continuous enrollment of up to 45 days. Individuals with colorectal cancer and with total colectomy were excluded.
↵§ Both part-time and full-time physicians were included as long as they had at least 50 patients eligible for CRC screening in 2005.
↵∥ At the time of this study, most flexible sigmoidoscopy procedures were centralized at Group Health and were performed by physician assistants, nurse practitioners, or gastroenterologists.
CRC, colorectal cancer.