Adjoa Anyane-Yeboa, MD, MPH

2019-2020

Gastroenterologist, Instructor of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Dr. Adjoa Anyane-Yeboa was most recently a Gastroenterology Fellow at the University of Chicago Medicine.  She was previously a Chief Gastroenterology Fellow at the University of Chicago, and Chief Medical Resident in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago.  Dr. Anyane-Yeboa is focused on public health advocacy, with the goals of advocating in the public sector, leading diversity retention and recruitment efforts, and designing health disparities research, to create policy and develop initiatives to eliminate disparities in minority patients with gastrointestinal disorders.  She has a special interest in achieving equity in health outcomes for minority patients with gastrointestinal disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease.  Her community service initiatives have included work with the Urban Health Project (Chicago), and Closing the Health Gap of Greater Cincinnati.  As a resident, she developed mentoring programs for underrepresented minority students, and led diversity retention and recruitment efforts for her department.  She received the Rising Star Award in 2018 from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.  Dr. Anyane-Yeboa received her medical degree in 2012 from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, and completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Illinois, Chicago, in 2015.

"Best Practices for Community-Based Colorectal Cancer Screening Programs: Lessons from Boston Community Health Centers"

Objectives:

Primary objective is to understand best practices around colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in Boston to provide opportunities to improve screening at community health centers and in other care settings. Secondary objective is to better understand policy surrounding CRC at the local and national level

Background: 

Cancer is the leading cause of death in Massachusetts. Colorectal (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death nationally and third most common cause of cancer in Massachusetts. In Massachusetts there are disparities in CRC screening with highest incidence and mortality in Black residents. The objective of the practicum project is to understand best practices around CRC screening in Boston to provide opportunities to improve screening at community health centers and in other healthcare settings.

Methods: 

We interviewed several key stakeholders to better understand CRC screening practices in Boston and nationally.

Results: 

“Opportunity-based” screening is the most effective strategy. Need a central champion at the health center to lead efforts, best done by quality improvement staff. It is important to focus on the internal processes and embed CRC screening into the daily operations of the health center. It is most effective to have the medical assistants track fit kits that have been sent out, and keep a log to follow up results. Important gaps are linkage to colonoscopy and a gastroenterology provider, and that colorectal cancer screening is not an ACO priority in Massachusetts.

National Policy:

Bills H.R 1570/S.668 “Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act” has been stalled in committee due to other priorities. Strategy will be to tie language into another higher priority bill.

Future Directions: 

Conduct survey to determine uptake of CRC screening program resources at community health centers, collaborate with the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers to expand reach of best practices,  and determine opportunities to expand CRC screening outside of usual settings.

Preceptor:Mark Kennedy, MBA – Boston Public Health Commission