In August, the American College of Gastroenterology and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy published updated guidelines regarding the quality indicators surrounding colonoscopy, according to a Sept. 12 report from the American Journal of Managed Care.
According to the journal, it remains unclear how the new recommendations will affect the ways endoscopists approach colonoscopies and how patients will receive colonoscopies in the future.
Colonoscopies remain the primary mode of prevention for colorectal cancer, and they are often recommended in patients who are over 45.
ACG and ASGE released new indicators for measuring the quality of a colonoscopy, including adding bowel preparation adequacy rate and sessile serrated lesion detection rate to the list of priority quality indicators that should be measured consistently when performing a colonoscopy.
Changes were also made to the thresholds that some indicators are held to, including to adenoma detection rate. ACG and ASGE increased the ADR acceptance level from 30% to 35%.
One challenge of the new guidelines is making sure that they are followed consistently by hospitals and clinics, according to the report.
Quality recommendations are often implemented through the goodwill of endoscopists and endoscopy units to measure quality effectively.
Ensuring that priority quality indicators are accounted for during a colonoscopy will take a lot of effort on the part of endoscopists, clinics, software and insurance to encourage clinicians to provide the best outcomes for patients, the journal noted.