A study of Kaiser Permanente members in Southern California found that offering patients to self-order a colorectal cancer screening test online increases rates of test completion, according to a Jan. 21 news release.
The study, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, tracked more than 176,000 participants between ages 50 and 74 who were eligible for CRC screening, the release said. It found those who used the self-order option were 3.8 times more likely to complete the screening than those who were just sent a kit.
"Based on these results, we see that it is possible that the self-order option can act as an effective commitment device," lead researcher Erin Hahn, PhD, said in the release. "This may be the case even for patients who had not previously completed a colorectal screening test."