Direct-to-Patient Digital Health Program Improves Lung Cancer Screening Rates

THURSDAY, Oct. 30, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A direct-to-patient digital health intervention increases rates of lung cancer screening, according to a study published online Oct. 20 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

David P. Miller, M.D., from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and colleagues assessed whether a direct-to-patient digital health program increases lung cancer screening. The analysis included 669 participants randomly assigned to the digital mPATH-Lung program delivered outside a clinical visit and 664 controls randomly assigned to enhanced usual care.

The researchers found that chest computed tomography (CT) completion was higher in the mPATH-Lung group than in controls (24.5 percent versus 17.0 percent; odds ratio, 1.6). False-positive results occurred in 12.7 percent of mPATH-Lung participants who completed screening CT and 8.4 percent of controls. In the intervention group, invasive procedures were performed in 2.0 percent versus 1.1 percent in the control group, with no complications reported.

“Our study shows that reaching patients directly with digital tools can help overcome barriers to lung cancer screening and potentially save lives,” Miller said in a statement. “By empowering individuals with information and easy access to screening, we can make a real difference in early detection of lung cancer.”

Two authors disclosed being coinventors of mPATH and having other ties to industry.

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