Everybody Get Together for Colon Cancer Prevention

There’s cancer prevention in numbers, so say feisty organizers of The World’s Largest Colonoscopy Party set for March 31 and April 1 in Minneapolis, Minn. An all-inclusive price of $198 buys participants attendance at a “pre-poop party” on Thursday night, food and overnight accommodations, then transportation to the colonoscopy the next morning, topped off with a post-event party.

Participants’ physicians and insurance must bless the screenings in advance.

Event organizers remind us that colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in this country. According to recent research, turns out that even although physicians write orders for colonoscopy screenings, 70 percent of patients don’t follow through because they’re afraid of the procedure.

We’d also suggest that it’s because most doctors simply don’t have time to ensure that the patient follows directions—even when they may be life-saving. With average patient loads of 2,500 to 3,000 and average patient visits in the nonsensical range of eight minutes, it’s just not reasonable to expect accurate follow-up in the current overloaded healthcare system.

There is a better model, one in which the doctor-patient relationship is a two-way street and good communication exists because it can. Some call it personalized medicine. Some call it concierge medicine. We call it SignatureMD.
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