Future Health Today: A pragmatic cluster randomised trial of quality improvement activities in general practice for patients at risk of undiagnosed cancer.

Background: Diagnosing cancer in general practice is complex, given the non-specific nature of many presenting symptoms and the overlap of potential diagnoses. This trial evaluated the effectiveness of a technology, Future Health Today (FHT), which provides clinical decision support, auditing, and quality improvement monitoring, on the appropriate follow-up of patients at risk of undiagnosed cancer.

Methods: Pragmatic, cluster randomised trial in Australian general practice. Practices were randomly assigned to receive recommendations for follow-up investigations for cancer (FHT cancer module) or the active control. Algorithms were applied to the electronic medical record and used demographic information and abnormal test results that are associated with risk of undiagnosed cancer (anaemia/iron-deficiency, thrombocytosis and raised PSA) to identify patients requiring further investigation and provide recommendations for care. The intervention consisted of the FHT cancer module, a case-based learning series and ongoing practice support. Using intention-to-treat approach, between arms difference in the proportion of patients with abnormal test results followed-up according to guidelines was determined at 12-months.

Results: 7555 patients were identified as at risk of undiagnosed cancer. At 12-months post-randomisation, 76.2% of patients in the intervention arm had received recommended follow-up (21 practices, n=2820/3709), compared to 70% in the control arm (19 practices, n=2693/3846; estimated between arm difference in percentages=2.6%, 95% CI -2.8% to 7.9%; odds ratio=1.15, 95% CI 0.87-1.53; p=0.332).

Conclusions: The FHT cancer module intervention did not increase the proportion of patients receiving guideline-concordant care. The proportion of patients receiving recommended followed-up was high, suggesting a possible ceiling effect for the intervention.