Congenital Hernias in Adults: Bochdalek Hernias.

Bochdalek hernias are a rare occurrence in adults and usually asymptomatic, resulting in incidental discovery. However, surgical intervention is recommended for both symptomatic and asymptomatic Bochdalek hernias due to the risk of acute morbidity and mortality. There are various possible surgical approaches that may be appropriate depending on the circumstance, with robotic repair becoming increasingly popular. To date, the rarity of the condition has limited the available data on postoperative outcomes.

Access to Lung Cancer Screening.

Rural and racial/ethnic minority communities experience higher risk and mortality from lung cancer. Lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography reduces mortality. However, disparities persist in the uptake of lung cancer screening, especially in marginalized communities. Barriers to lung cancer screening are multilevel and include patient, provider, and system-level barriers. This discussion highlights the key barriers faced by rural and racial/ethnic minority communities.

Assessing and Identifying Improvements for Lung Cancer Screening in a Rural Population: A Human-Centered Design and Systems Approach.

Although lung cancer claims more lives than any other cancer in the United States, screening is severely underutilized, with <6% of eligible patients screened nationally in 2021 versus 76% for breast cancer and 67% for colorectal cancer. This article describes an effort to identify key reasons for the underutilization of lung cancer screening in a rural population and to develop interventions to address these barriers suitable for both a large health system and local community clinics. Data were generated from 26 stakeholder interviews (clinicians, clinical staff, and eligible patients), a review of key systems (Electronic Health Record and billing records), and feedback on the feasibility of several potential interventions by health care system staff. These data informed a human-centered design approach to identify possible interventions within a complex health care system by exposing gaps in care processes and electronic health record platforms that can lead patients to be overlooked for potentially life-saving screening. Deployed interventions included communication efforts focused on (1) increasing patient awareness, (2) improving physician patient identification, and (3) supporting patient management. Preliminary outcomes are discussed.