Have you been screened lately?
Did you know that starting at age 45, regular colorectal cancer screenings are recommended? Screening is a simple way to catch potential issues early—sometimes before symptoms appear—when treatment works best.
But many adults between 45 and 75 haven’t been screened yet. If that’s you, now’s the perfect time to check in with your doctor! They can help you decide if an at-home test or another screening option is right for you. Call your doctor today to get started.
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Mountain Health Co-Op partners with Exact Sciences to make at-home colorectal cancer screen available for members.
Click here for more information.
What is Cologuard? (Cologuard.com)
Cologuard is for adults 45+ at average risk of colorectal cancer. It’s a non-invasive, effective, and affordable prescription-based at-home colon cancer screening test that looks for both abnormal DNA and blood in your stool.
Did my doctor order a test?
Your doctor may have ordered a test for you to do at home.
In addition, Mountain Health Co-Op, as part of our preventive health efforts, mailed test to members who are over 45 years old and have not had a colon screening or colonoscopy in the previous three years. The test is free for Co-Op members to use.
Will a follow-up colonoscopy be covered as preventive?
If you are 45 and have not had a colonoscopy in the previous three years, your follow-up colonoscopy will be covered. Or, if your doctor ordered your test and then had a follow-up with you due to test results, your colonoscopy will be covered.
What does a positive Cologuard test mean?
Cologuard looks for DNA and blood in your stool and can detect both precancer and cancer. After you return your test kit, you will receive either a negative or positive result within 2 weeks.
A positive result is not the same as a cancer diagnosis so please talk to your healthcare or telehealth provider for next steps.
Are my test results shared?
Test results are not shared with any outside agencies or medical information bureaus. Results are seen by the prescribing doctor, who attempts to reach the member three times via phone. If they are not able to reach the member by phone, they will send a letter.
Results can be made available to providers upon request, and through the following means:
- They can call Cologuard Customer Support at 1-844-870-8870 to request a copy of the patient’s result.
- If the provider has an account in the Exact Sciences Provider Portal, they can use the search function to find results for any of their patients.
- If the provider is part of a health system that uses EPIC for their EMR, they may be leveraging Care Everywhere to automatically and regularly search and pull in Cologuard results for any of their patients.
When preventive care is done with an in-network provider, it is 100% covered. Talk to your doctor about screening either in a medical facility or at home with Cologuard. Check your Outline of Coverage for more information.
Questions? Contact the Member Services team by calling 800-299-6080 or sending a secure message through your Member Portal.