Table 2.

Initial Physician Encounter Leading to Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis

	Primary Care Clinic	Outside Facility#
A. Parkland Health System
Race
White	19 (21)	70 (79)	P = 0.113*
Black	45 (31)	102 (69)
Hispanic	11 (17)	55 (83)
Other	3 (18)	14 (82)
Stage
Early	46 (39)	73 (61)	P < 0.0001†
Late	25 (14)	157 (86)
Insurance
Uninsured	35 (18)	157(82)	P < 0.0001*
Medicaid	8 (16)	41 (84)
Medicare	30 (46)	36 (54)
Private	5 (45)	6 (55)
Total	78 (25)	240 (75)
B. Presbyterian Health System
Race
White	239 (69)	105 (31)	P < 0.001*
Black	18 (60)	12 (40)
Hispanic	4 (50)	4 (50)
Other	10 (53)	7 (40)
Stage‡
Early	122 (69)	56 (32)	P = 0.38†
Late	112 (70)	48 (30)
Insurance
Uninsured	20 (77)	6 (23)	P = 0.102*
Medicaid	1 (50)	1 (50)
Medicare	124 (66)	63 (34)
Private	124 (68)	58 (32)
Total	269 (68)	128 (32)

Note: Values expressed as n (% of row). ^#Outside facility includes emergency room and other medical facilities no associated with PHHS

*Fisher’s exact test

^†Chi Square test

^‡CRC stages were categorized into early (1&2) or late stage (3&4), and were defined as follows: stage 1—The cancer has grown through the muscularis mucosa or into the muscularis propria, but has not spread to nearby lymph nodes or distant sites. Stage 2—The cancer has grown through the wall but not into nearby tissues/organs and not to lymph nodes or distant sites. Stage 3—The cancer has grown through the wall and may or may not have attached to or grown into other nearby tissues or organs. It has spread to nearby lymph nodes or into areas of fat near the lymph nodes, but not to distant sites. Stage 4—The cancer has spread to one distant organ (such as the liver or lung) or set of lymph nodes