Tips for Patient Recruitment

Inreach and Patient Recruitment

Inreach is commonly defined as active promotion of a service to clients already in the healthcare system. Some activities may include:

• Educate clinic staff about screening guidelines and about the Early Detection Works program. All clinic staff can help promote screening to patients.
• Display Early Detection Works brochures, table tents, window decals and posters prominently in clinic waiting rooms, exam rooms and other places.
• Add mammography to the preventative care flow sheet in clinic patient charts. Staff should check the flow sheets for periodic health maintenance, and flag the chart to alert clinicians that screening is due and the patient may be eligible for KBCCEDP.
• Include an Early Detection Works flyer with clinic billings, flu clinic notices, holiday greetings or other mailings.
• Send personal invitations or "birthday cards" to age-appropriate female patients with their own physician's signature encouraging them to come in for screening.
• Set up a system to remind patients when they are due to return for their annual screening exam.

Outreach Patient Recruitment

Outreach focuses on reaching women in their community, where they feel most comfortable.

• Places of worship
• Work with service and women's groups. Make a presentation and provide flyers to distribute to other women and families. Place an article in the church bulletin to promote cancer screening and Early Detection Works . Hold special screening events at churches.
• Hold a health fair at a community church where there's a high population of potentially eligible women and include literature about Early Detection Works .
• Businesses
• Arrange to have flyers available and distributed by local businesses such as beauty salons, grocery stores, clothing retailers, etc.
• Arrange to put stuffers about the program in employee paychecks.
• Pharmacies
• Arrange to include program flyers in all prescription orders.
• Put up a breast cancer awareness display in an appropriate area of the store.
• Ask the pharmacy to place a program advertisement in their weekly circular.
• Social Service and Cultural Organizations
• Arrange to display program information during women's events. Provide appropriate incentives for women to stop and then sign-up women on site.
• Partner with other community groups during special events to display Early Detection Works materials. Offer various types of health activities including mammography screening.
• Send letters, flyers, or free coupons to local social service agencies so that they may refer eligible patients to clinics with KBCCEDP services