Purpose
To describe the colorectal cancer‐screening program at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, a large multispecialty medical group, in which nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) perform screening flexible sigmoidoscopies.
Data Sources
Scientific literature, consensus statements and guidelines, and the protocol utilized to train NPs and PAs to perform flexible sigmoi‐doscopy. Data from 9,500 screening proce‐dures are presented.
Conclusions
In comparison with gastroenterologists, trained NP and PA endoscopists perform screening flexible sigmoidoscopy with similar accuracy and safety but at lower cost.
Implications for Practice
Screening flexible sigmoidoscopy performed by NPs and PAs may increase the availability and lower the cost of flexible sigmoidoscopy for colorectal cancer screening.
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