| Name | Jessica Magarinos |
| Institution | Temple University, Lewis Katz School of Medicine |
| Research Field | Clinical Research |
| Role at Institution | Graduate Student |
| Presenter(s) | Jessica Magarinos |
Single-Encounter Telemedicine (SET) Lung Cancer Screening Reveals Lower Rates of Screening But Preserves Access to Minorities
Jessica Magarinos, MD;1 Lynde Lutzow, MD;1 Chandra Dass, MD;2 Grace X. Ma, PhD;1,3 Cherie P. Erkmen, MD;1,3
1Temple University, Lewis Katz School of Medicine
2Temple University Hospital, Temple Health
3Center for Asian Health
Background: COVID-19 forced a delay of non-essential health services, including lung cancer screening. Our institution developed a single-encounter, telemedicine (SET) lung cancer screening whereby patients receive low-dose CT in-person, but counseling regarding results, coordination of follow-up care and smoking cessation is delivered using telemedicine. This study compares outcomes of SET lung cancer screening to our pre-COVID, single-visit, in-person (SIP) lung cancer screening.
Methods: We recorded gender, race/ethnicity, age, education attainment, and smoking status and dependent variables cancer diagnosis, stage, and treatment between March 2019 -July 2021. We compared outcomes of SIP lung cancer screening before COVID-19 and SET lung cancer screening amid COVID-19.
Results: There was a significant difference in number of patients screened pre- and amid COVID-19. 673 people were screened via SIP, while only 440 were screened via SET. SIP screening consisted of 52.5% African-American patients, which decreased to 37% with SET screening. There was no significant difference in gender, age, or educational attainment. There was also no significant difference in Lung–RADS score between the two methods of screening or diagnostic procedures performed. Ultimately telemedicine based screening diagnosed fewer cancers, 1.6% diagnosed via telemedicine vs 3.3% screened by in person.
Conclusion: We implemented SET lung cancer screening to continue lung cancer screening during a global pandemic. Our study established feasibility of telemedicine-based lung cancer screening among our predominantly African American/Black population, though fewer patients were screened. We found no difference in distribution between age, or educational attainment suggesting other factors discouraging lung cancer screening amid COVID-19.