After 5pm your doc may not screen you for cancer

A new study endeavoured to research whether breast and colorectal cancer screening are related to the time of day a patient visits their primary care clinician. As part of this quality improvement study shows, both clinical ordering and patient completion of cancer screening tests decreased later in the day. The study published in JAMA found that patients with primary clinical care appointments that are later in the day were less likely to receive orders of guideline recommended cancer screening.

Cancer is a leading cause of mortality in the United States. Appropriate cancer screening can be effective in decreasing both morbidity and mortality by detecting and treating cancers at an earlier stage. However, underuse of cancer screening tests is common. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that among patients who meet guideline recommendations, approximately 37% of adults have not been screened for colorectal cancer, and 28% of women have not been screened for breast cancer.