2020 saw the complete age expansion of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) to include all Medicare registered people aged 50-74 years.
Primary care providers play a key role in the success of NBCSP in reducing illness and death from bowel cancer through early detection of the disease. GPs ensure that program participants progress through the screening pathway with clinically appropriate advice, treatment, and care coordination and providing data on participants and their outcomes to the National Cancer Screening Register.
Additionally, you can encourage people to participate when they receive a screening test, assess people with a positive result, and refer them for further examination as clinically indicated. Strong evidence suggest that patients are more motivated to take part in a program if a primary care provider recommends participation.
The National Cancer Screening Register has launched a health care provider portal to help health professionals access and submit bowel screening data electronically. The portal can be used to:
- access your patients' bowel screening results and histories online
- prepare for patient appointments by checking their records
- submit forms and reports electronically
- update your patients' information
- order a bowel screening kit for a patient.
Read more about using the portal on the register’s website.
Several resources are available for general practice to learn more about the program and how to encourage participation.
For further information please visit www.ncsr.gov.au or call 1800 627 701.