Advisor
Watson, Melissa D.N.P., C.R.N.A.Date
2022-05Type
DNP Project
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Problem: Melanoma is a prevalent issue within Baltimore County, and despite recommendations for annual screenings for skin cancer, guidelines are not consistently adhered. Within a primary care practice in Baltimore County, Maryland, risk identification screening is not being performed until the patients present with a suspicious presentation or specific dermatologic complaint. Screening to identify high-risk patients allows for targeted prevention and treatment interventions. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project is to implement risk identification screening via the Self-Assessment of Melanoma Risk Score (SAMScore) to identify patients at high risk of developing skin cancer. Methods: Medical assistants (MA’s) utilized the SAMScore to assess patients’ level of risk for developing skin cancer. Results of the SAMScore were recorded in the electronic medical record. The clinician then referred patients identified as high-risk via the SAMScore screening to a dermatologist for a skin examination and annual surveillance. Results: A total of 401 patients were screened with the SAMScore. A total of 269 (67.1%) were identified as low risk with 132 (32.9%) identified as high risk. Of the 132 patients identified as high-risk, 104 (78.8%) were referred to dermatology for further evaluation. Conclusions: Findings indicate that the use of a skin cancer risk identification tool is a feasible and effective means to identify patients at high risk within primary care settings. Maintaining screening compliance by patients and clinicians proved to be the primary challenge and future quality improvement projects should target this barrier to implementationIdentifier to cite or link to this item
http://hdl.handle.net/10713/20788Collections
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