Acute Care Surgery: Trauma, Critical Care, Egs.....and Preventative Health?

Background Acute care surgeons (ACS) often care for patients with limited access to healthcare. They may not participate in preventative screenings/interventions (PSI’s) such as mammography (MO), colonoscopy (CO), or pneumococcal vaccinations (VA). We sought to identify barriers to compliance, and determine if acute care surgeons have an opportunity to facilitate PSI participation. Methods All patients evaluated by an ACS were considered for inclusion in the study. Patients meeting national PSI inclusion criteria were enrolled. Surveys were administered to assess compliance and identify barriers to participation. Results The overall compliance rate with PSI’s was 57%. Patients without a primary care physician had a compliance rate of 23%. The most common barrier to participation was lack of knowledge of PSI recommendations (42%). Males were less compliant than females (47% vs 62%). Conclusion Acute care surgeons evaluate a large number of general surgery and trauma patients. The acute care surgeon-patient encounter represents a valuable opportunity for education and improved PSI compliance. Additional research should focus on developing interventional strategies and evaluating their impact on patient outcomes.