HealthPartners Medical Group today announced that it has launched an initiative aimed at saving lives by providing more timely colorectal cancer screening for African American patients. Organizations such as the American College of Gastroenterology recommend that regular colorectal cancer screening for African Americans should begin at age 45, compared to age 50 for other races.The initiative uses HealthPartners electronic medical record and race information, provided by patients, to automatically generate reminders to African American patients to have a colonoscopy when they turn 45, and then at regular intervals through age 80.“Nationally, colorectal cancer deaths are 48 percent higher among African

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