Logon and Learn: Reduce the (financial) discomfort of colonoscopy March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, which is intended to increase awareness about colorectal cancer and prompt people to take action by learning more about the disease and getting screened.
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in the United States and the second leading cause of annual cancer deaths. Colon cancer starts with a growth that is not yet cancer. Testing can help your doctor find (and remove) these growths before they become cancerous. If the test finds that colon cancer has already developed, you have a much better chance of surviving if it is found early. Nine out of 10 people whose colon cancer is discovered early will be alive five years later.
Here are some online tools that can help you make the best choices for your health:
- The Puget Sound Health Alliance Community Check-Up Report
 can tell you which hospitals and clinics in our region follow medical guidelines for screening for colon cancer.
- Aetna SmartSourceSM makes it easy to find personalized health information on many conditions. Search on colonoscopy and you will find information on what it is and how it is performed. SmartSourceSM pulls information from the most credible medical web resources to provide you with the answers to questions you want to know.
- Aetna KingCare lets you create a personal health record that will alert you when you need an age-appropriate screening like a colonoscopy.
- When you register for Aetna KingCare you can use the Cost of Care tool to compare the cost of a colonoscopy at different facilities around the region.
For more information about how to be a savvy health care consumer Logon and Learn.
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