Theodore Levin, MD, featured on National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable

The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable recognized Kaiser Permanente as one of 6 recipients of their National Achievement Awards announced last week in a Facebook Live broadcast. The award is a national honor that highlights leadership to increase colorectal cancer screening rates across the United States; March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

Theodore Levin, MD, who is a gastroenterologist with The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) and clinical lead for colon cancer screening at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, was featured on the broadcast. He spoke about Kaiser Permanente’s integrated care teams and their success in screening more than 80 percent of members for colon cancer.

From 2000 to 2015, colorectal cancer screenings at Kaiser Permanente Northern California increased from 39 to 83 percent. The uptick in screenings has led to 26 percent fewer cases of colorectal cancer and 52 percent fewer deaths from colorectal cancer during that period. More than 800,000 members are up to date with screening for colorectal cancer, according to Dr. Levin.

During the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable, Richard Wender, MD, of the American Cancer Society applauded the success of TPMG and Kaiser Permanente in increasing colorectal cancer screening rates.

“In case you thought they might not be deserving, not only have they hit 80 percent overall, they’re at over 90 percent for their Medicare population,” said Dr. Wender.

For more information on colorectal cancer screening, go to kpdoc.org/colon.