30-Second Takeaway
- Use **patient navigation** and **mailed FIT outreach** to meaningfully raise colorectal cancer screening rates, especially where uptake is low.
- Address pandemic-related **blood pressure control erosion** with proactive, team-based, equity-focused hypertension management.
- Lower or eliminate **antihypertensive copays** when possible to improve adherence and persistence.
Week ending April 11, 2026
Hypertension control and colorectal cancer screening: practical levers for primary care impact
Patient navigation and mailed FIT outreach most effectively boost colorectal cancer screening
This network meta-analysis of 76 randomized trials compared eight colorectal cancer screening uptake strategies with usual care. Patient navigation increased screening by 58% versus usual care (RR 1.58, 95% CI 1.23-2.02). Mailed FIT outreach increased screening by 36% (RR 1.36, 95% CI 1.07-1.74) and outperformed colonoscopy outreach (RR 1.35, 95% CI 1.11-1.63). In settings with baseline uptake <30%, mailed FIT outreach tripled screening (RR 3.12, 95% CI 1.70-5.71).
Blood pressure control dropped during COVID-19 and has not fully rebounded
EHR data from 17 US health systems followed 1.2 to 1.5 million adults with hypertension from 2017 to 2022. BP control (<140/<90 mm Hg) fell from 65.3% in 2019 to 61.8% in 2020 and only partially recovered to 62.6% in 2022. The adjusted difference in BP control between 2022 and 2019 was -2.6 percentage points (95% CI -5.0 to -0.2). Non-Hispanic Asian patients had the largest control decline, from 68.4% in 2019 to 63.9% in 2022.
Intensive primary care training improves preparedness to manage youth suicidality
This longitudinal study followed 3,246 primary care clinicians in a pediatric mental health retraining program emphasizing suicidality. The curriculum included a three-day interactive workshop plus six months of twice-monthly group case-based coaching. Clinicians showed significant, sustained gains in suicide-related knowledge, self-efficacy, rating scale use, and self-reported practice changes at six months (all P<.0029). Early improvements in knowledge and self-efficacy predicted later self-reported practice changes in managing suicidal youth.
Nurse-led mHealth program improves post-stroke blood pressure control in Ghana
The PINGS multicenter RCT enrolled 500 recent stroke survivors with hypertension at 10 hospitals in Ghana. Participants received usual care or a 12-month nurse-led intervention with home BP monitoring, phone alarms, and weekly telephonic education. At 12 months, systolic BP <140 mm Hg was achieved in 67% of intervention patients versus 43% receiving usual care (difference 24%; 95% CI 15%-33%). Mean systolic BP decreased by an additional -5.5 mm Hg versus control (95% CI -9.6 to -1.4; P=0.008).
References
Numbered in order of appearance. Click any reference to view details.
Additional Reads
Optional additional studies from this edition.