With the recent recommendation for lung cancer screenings there is hope that the survival rate for lung cancer patients will increase. A projected 20% improvement looks promising for all patients. There is a question of how this is going to be executed in terms of numbers. There is a projection of about 9 million scans being done every year for free. While the scan will not cure a cancer, it may likely go a long way toward stopping it.
While this screening has been recommended there is one thing that’s not certain, medicare. It was stated that “Medicare funding seems all but assured,” meaning that this will run into problems stemming from the many disagreements that it will bring. This must be done in order to boost the profile of preventive scanning and aid in the fight against lung cancer. One interested fact noted in the dotmed.com article was that “There's also discussion in the scientific community around other high risk patients who don't smoke — for example, people who are at risk due to occupational exposures or who have first-degree relatives with lung cancer.”
Lung cancer is a dangerous form that can affect a lot of people very negatively, even if they are not smokers. It’s unfortunate that for this type of screening there is a great deal of red tape that will need to be overcome. Chances are that a lot of people will simply say that smokers need to stop smoking in order to solve the problem. It’s important to have this type of CT screening done in order to help matters.
Chances are that this type of screening will be met with resistance from a lot of people simply because the implication of free scans or reduced prices means another limitation when you consider the limited reimbursements for radiologists on procedures. The article stated “However, another study shows that raising the size threshold to 8-9 millimeters would reduce unnecessary scans and testing while still catching almost all lung cancers.” The idea of reducing unnecessary scans while still performing a service for people is beyond appealing.
If you have any questions about lung cancer screenings please feel free to give us a call. We at Clermont Radiology look forward to answering any questions that you may have.
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