Selected Podcast
Lung Cancer Screening
In this episode, listen as Amy Warburton, RT. leads a discussion on the importance of lung cancer screenings, and how Riverside's Lung Cancer Screening Program offers a collaborative approach of treatment for high-risk patients in the community.
Featured Speaker:
Amy Warburton, RT
Amy Warburton is a registered radiologic technologist that has been employed at Riverside since 2002. She is a member of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT). As the Imaging Patient Navigator, she is responsible for the Pulmonary Nodule Program, the Lung Cancer Screening program, and the Imaging Follow up Program. She works with the Lung Nodule Clinic which consists of a multidisciplinary team that works together to ensure timely evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of lung nodules. Before her role as the Imaging Patient Navigator she worked in diagnostic radiology, the interventional radiology procedure lab, and as the quality management and database manager of the radiology department. Amy and her family reside in Bourbonnais, IL. Transcription:
Lung Cancer Screening
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death in the United States. Did you know that Riverside has a lung cancer screening program for high risk individuals? Today we'll hear from Amy Warburton Imaging quality and business operations manager at Riverside about screening guideline updates and who qualifies for a lung cancer screening? A screening could save your life.
My Chart ad: Healthcare can be confusing, but thanks to your my Riverside MyChart, you can easily manage not only your care, but your families as well. With a single click, your My Riverside MyChart lets you stay well connected to the same information your provider sees. You can view your health history, get test results, request prescription refills, pay your bill or make an appointment. Manage your care from anywhere, your laptop, phone, or tablet. Learn more and enroll today at riversidemychart.org.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Welcome back to Well Within Reach, brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. I'm your host, Gabby Cinnamon, and today I'm very excited to be joined by Amy Warburton, imaging quality and business operations manager here at Riverside to talk about the updated lung cancer screening guidelines in screening program at Riverside. Thanks for coming on the podcast, Amy.
Amy Warburton: Thank you so much for having me, Gabby.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Ah. So before we get into things, can you tell us, a little about your background and your role? It's been a bit since you've done a podcast with us.
Amy Warburton: So I am the imaging quality and business operations manager for Riverside. I started back at Riverside in 2002. I am an x-ray tech by background. I oversee the imaging patient navigators who actively run the lung cancer screening program here at Riverside.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): So you have a lot of experience 20 years. Oh my gosh. That's awesome.
Amy Warburton: Totally, yes. Thank you.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): What is Riverside's Lung Cancer Screening Program?
Amy Warburton: So Riverside's Lung Cancer screening program is a collaborative approach between multidisciplinary teams such as radiology, pulmonology, oncology, surgery, respiratory quality, and our administrative teams. The program is designed to reach the high risk patients within our community and offer them an opportunity to be screened for lung cancer.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): With any kind of screening, there can be changes to updates and guidelines and there were some, kind of big changes to the lung cancer screening program, this year as far as who qualifies, can you kind of talk about what those updates were that, are taking effect this year in 2023?
Amy Warburton: Yeah. So the eligibility requirements have actually, expanded for our patients within our community and across the country. So as of January 1st, Riverside has adapted those guidelines. Individuals that are ages 50 to 77, they're a current smoker, a former smoker. They've quit within the last 15 years. They have at least a pack year history of 20 pack years, and are asymptomatic. Those are the ones that would now qualify to be screened.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Can you talk about what a pack year is?
Amy Warburton: So pack year can be a little bit difficult to kind of put through your mind, but break it down as simple. So if you smoke two packs a day for 10 years, that would be the 20 year, pack year that you would meet.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Got it. So you have to put the math hat on for exactly, for a minute, but that makes sense. Just wanted to clarify for, those out there. so why were the guidelines updated for this year and, why is this important for people to know?
Amy Warburton: So the guidelines actually are gonna reflect Medicare guidelines that they have recently updated. It's expanded coverage. The previous guidelines had a smaller age range. It was 55. Now we've actually dropped it down to 50. And then we also realized that before it was a 30 pack year history that you needed to qualify that high risk individuals are actually within that 20 pack years. So we're gonna reach a lot more of our community with this new guidelines that we've established.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): That's amazing because, you know, with any cancer, early detection, especially with lung cancer, is key to, hopefully preventing it from progressing. Can you talk about the screening process and how lung cancer is detected for maybe those who've never had a lung cancer screening or are thinking about getting one?
Amy Warburton: So the screening process itself is actually very simple. You will need a referral from your provider, so meaning an order. Once you have that order, it's sent to our scheduling department. If you've never been screened before, the navigators will reach out to you to do a shared decision making visit with you. They'll call, they'll talk to you about the process, and then from there, the scheduling department will call you. If it's a follow up screening, the scheduling department will just call to get you scheduled.
Once you're scheduled and you arrive at one of our campuses, they will get you registered, have you fill out a history form, and then a CT technologist will bring you back for your scan. When the CT technologist brings you back for your scan, they'll go over your history with you again, assure that you. For the exam, they'll have you lay down on the CT exam table, bring your arms above your head, and you'll go in and out of the machine. And the scan itself takes less than five minutes and is very painless. .
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): So what should someone do if they think they might qualify for a lung cancer screening but aren't really sure?
Amy Warburton: If they're not really sure they need just need to reach out to their provider, their provider's gonna be that key element to decide on whether or not they actually meet The guidelines for it. And then they can also write that order at the time when they talk to them about it.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Right. And just to reiterate, so a referral is required from your provider, you cannot self-refer.
Amy Warburton: Exactly. So we do need that order from the provider.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Got it. so if something is detected during this screening, what would those next steps be?
Amy Warburton: So if something's detected, it doesn't necessarily mean. Lung cancer. So the next step would be based upon the guidelines, is following up with your provider, the one that ordered it to see what those next steps are. Some of the next steps may include a CT scan in six months, three months, or a little bit further testing, depending on what it looks like. But the navigators are there and they help your provider kind of streamline what needs take place in order to get you taken care of.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Got it. That makes sense. So for those who are high risk, why is it so important for them to get screened for lung cancer?
Amy Warburton: So high risk individuals that could potentially have lung cancer, it's early detection, so being screened and having that early detection, it allows for patients to have, more opportunities for treatments. there's more treatment options and a greater chance of survival.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): I think that's a great place to end off on. if you're interested, you said people should contact their primary care provider if they think they, need a screening?
Amy Warburton: Yeah. Reach out to your primary care provider if you need to be screened. They again, will generate that referral in the order and then from there our navigators will reach out to ensure that you qualify or are scheduling team to get you scheduled.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Thank you so much for coming on the podcast today, Amy, and sharing these very important updates. This is great because a lot more people in the community will qualify for screening now. And thank you listeners for tuning into well Within Reach, brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. Make sure to leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to our show.
Lung Cancer Screening
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death in the United States. Did you know that Riverside has a lung cancer screening program for high risk individuals? Today we'll hear from Amy Warburton Imaging quality and business operations manager at Riverside about screening guideline updates and who qualifies for a lung cancer screening? A screening could save your life.
My Chart ad: Healthcare can be confusing, but thanks to your my Riverside MyChart, you can easily manage not only your care, but your families as well. With a single click, your My Riverside MyChart lets you stay well connected to the same information your provider sees. You can view your health history, get test results, request prescription refills, pay your bill or make an appointment. Manage your care from anywhere, your laptop, phone, or tablet. Learn more and enroll today at riversidemychart.org.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Welcome back to Well Within Reach, brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. I'm your host, Gabby Cinnamon, and today I'm very excited to be joined by Amy Warburton, imaging quality and business operations manager here at Riverside to talk about the updated lung cancer screening guidelines in screening program at Riverside. Thanks for coming on the podcast, Amy.
Amy Warburton: Thank you so much for having me, Gabby.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Ah. So before we get into things, can you tell us, a little about your background and your role? It's been a bit since you've done a podcast with us.
Amy Warburton: So I am the imaging quality and business operations manager for Riverside. I started back at Riverside in 2002. I am an x-ray tech by background. I oversee the imaging patient navigators who actively run the lung cancer screening program here at Riverside.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): So you have a lot of experience 20 years. Oh my gosh. That's awesome.
Amy Warburton: Totally, yes. Thank you.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): What is Riverside's Lung Cancer Screening Program?
Amy Warburton: So Riverside's Lung Cancer screening program is a collaborative approach between multidisciplinary teams such as radiology, pulmonology, oncology, surgery, respiratory quality, and our administrative teams. The program is designed to reach the high risk patients within our community and offer them an opportunity to be screened for lung cancer.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): With any kind of screening, there can be changes to updates and guidelines and there were some, kind of big changes to the lung cancer screening program, this year as far as who qualifies, can you kind of talk about what those updates were that, are taking effect this year in 2023?
Amy Warburton: Yeah. So the eligibility requirements have actually, expanded for our patients within our community and across the country. So as of January 1st, Riverside has adapted those guidelines. Individuals that are ages 50 to 77, they're a current smoker, a former smoker. They've quit within the last 15 years. They have at least a pack year history of 20 pack years, and are asymptomatic. Those are the ones that would now qualify to be screened.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Can you talk about what a pack year is?
Amy Warburton: So pack year can be a little bit difficult to kind of put through your mind, but break it down as simple. So if you smoke two packs a day for 10 years, that would be the 20 year, pack year that you would meet.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Got it. So you have to put the math hat on for exactly, for a minute, but that makes sense. Just wanted to clarify for, those out there. so why were the guidelines updated for this year and, why is this important for people to know?
Amy Warburton: So the guidelines actually are gonna reflect Medicare guidelines that they have recently updated. It's expanded coverage. The previous guidelines had a smaller age range. It was 55. Now we've actually dropped it down to 50. And then we also realized that before it was a 30 pack year history that you needed to qualify that high risk individuals are actually within that 20 pack years. So we're gonna reach a lot more of our community with this new guidelines that we've established.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): That's amazing because, you know, with any cancer, early detection, especially with lung cancer, is key to, hopefully preventing it from progressing. Can you talk about the screening process and how lung cancer is detected for maybe those who've never had a lung cancer screening or are thinking about getting one?
Amy Warburton: So the screening process itself is actually very simple. You will need a referral from your provider, so meaning an order. Once you have that order, it's sent to our scheduling department. If you've never been screened before, the navigators will reach out to you to do a shared decision making visit with you. They'll call, they'll talk to you about the process, and then from there, the scheduling department will call you. If it's a follow up screening, the scheduling department will just call to get you scheduled.
Once you're scheduled and you arrive at one of our campuses, they will get you registered, have you fill out a history form, and then a CT technologist will bring you back for your scan. When the CT technologist brings you back for your scan, they'll go over your history with you again, assure that you. For the exam, they'll have you lay down on the CT exam table, bring your arms above your head, and you'll go in and out of the machine. And the scan itself takes less than five minutes and is very painless. .
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): So what should someone do if they think they might qualify for a lung cancer screening but aren't really sure?
Amy Warburton: If they're not really sure they need just need to reach out to their provider, their provider's gonna be that key element to decide on whether or not they actually meet The guidelines for it. And then they can also write that order at the time when they talk to them about it.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Right. And just to reiterate, so a referral is required from your provider, you cannot self-refer.
Amy Warburton: Exactly. So we do need that order from the provider.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Got it. so if something is detected during this screening, what would those next steps be?
Amy Warburton: So if something's detected, it doesn't necessarily mean. Lung cancer. So the next step would be based upon the guidelines, is following up with your provider, the one that ordered it to see what those next steps are. Some of the next steps may include a CT scan in six months, three months, or a little bit further testing, depending on what it looks like. But the navigators are there and they help your provider kind of streamline what needs take place in order to get you taken care of.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Got it. That makes sense. So for those who are high risk, why is it so important for them to get screened for lung cancer?
Amy Warburton: So high risk individuals that could potentially have lung cancer, it's early detection, so being screened and having that early detection, it allows for patients to have, more opportunities for treatments. there's more treatment options and a greater chance of survival.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): I think that's a great place to end off on. if you're interested, you said people should contact their primary care provider if they think they, need a screening?
Amy Warburton: Yeah. Reach out to your primary care provider if you need to be screened. They again, will generate that referral in the order and then from there our navigators will reach out to ensure that you qualify or are scheduling team to get you scheduled.
Gabby Cinnamon (Host): Thank you so much for coming on the podcast today, Amy, and sharing these very important updates. This is great because a lot more people in the community will qualify for screening now. And thank you listeners for tuning into well Within Reach, brought to you by Riverside Healthcare. Make sure to leave a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to our show.