Peabody J, Rahim A, Wilcox B, et al. - In a 3-part, longitudinal, randomized controlled trial, researchers focused on the usefulness of a blood-based protein assay to evaluate for colorectal cancer (CRC) in patients with high risk on the quality of preventive care delivered by board-certified primary care physicians (PCPs) in the United States. The physicians’ ability to recognize simulated patients at risk for CRC was evaluated in Part 1, with the finding that PCPs missed colonoscopy referrals for high-risk patients ~40% of the time. In Part 2, PCPs were randomized to control and intervention arms and it was revealed that referral rates for a diagnostic colonoscopy were increased in correlation with the use of a new blood-based protein assay when caring for simulated patients. Part 3 was performed to compare real-world colonoscopy rates of actual patients cared for by control vs intervention physicians. As per the findings, a higher probability of appropriate patients being referred to diagnostic colonoscopy was observed in correlation with an increase in CRC risk, as suggested by the assay in simulated and real-life patients.