Ryan Family Foundation Lung Screening Program at LVHN Expands

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) will further its ability to offer early lung cancer screenings to eligible patients after being recognized as a sub-awardee of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Anderson Award.

LVHN received a $966,468 grant from NCI and is part of a five-year trial that will allow for the expansion of an existing lung screening pilot program. This award is a collaboration of LVHN, Christiana Care Health System, Penn State Health, and Jefferson Health, which is the prime awardee.

The program allows LVHN to identify patients with upcoming primary care visits who are eligible for lung screenings. It also allows LVHN to provide mailed education materials and telephone outreach.

These innovative tools, along with a patient education video developed by the GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer, will be made available to providers and care coordinators for immediate use in appointments with study participants.

LVHN adopted this program after receiving an Anderson Award in 2018 and has experienced a sustained screening rate of 20%. LVHN is proud to see this homegrown effort scaled across our health system and others across the country.

Lehigh Valley Topper Cancer Institute is an accredited Lung Cancer Screening Center, which means LVHN meets the highest standards for screenings and offers low-dose computed tomography (CT) scans and trusted imaging techniques for accurate results.

Ryan Family Foundation Lung Health Screening Program

In 2018, in honor and memory of Frank J. and Jane E. Ryan, the Ryan Family Foundation established the Ryan Family Foundation Lung Health Screening Program. With the foundation's generous support, lung cancer screenings have grown to become a unique program that standardizes this much needed community health initiative. The Ryan Family Foundation Lung Health Screening Program has been able to increase the identification of lung cancer, patient outreach and navigation for lung cancer screenings. The program also has its own designated navigator and coordinator.