The DElivering Lung cancer screening that supports proVidErs (DELVE) study at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and the Department of Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Health System (TVHS), is actively recruiting clinicians (physicians and advanced practice providers) in Middle Tennessee to address the critical role that they play in lung cancer screening. Led by Jennifer A. Lewis MD, MS, MPH, this study is among the first to comprehensively assess behavioral factors that influence clinicians’ lung screening behaviors.

Our interdisciplinary research team includes a lung cancer patient advocate, oncologists, a radiologist, a primary care physician, and experts in public health and clinical research. The team is conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with clinicians in general internal medicine and several subspecialities (geriatrics, gynecology, cardiology, pulmonology, oncology). To capture a diverse sample of clinicians from hospital and community-based clinics in Middle Tennessee, the research team plans to complete over 50 interviews. An electronic pre-interview survey is sent to participants to capture data on guideline knowledge, organizational culture and general attitudes towards lung cancer screening to streamline the interview process. Based on the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation Behavior framework, these interviews will reveal key themes regarding clinicians’ medical decision-making and ability to perform screening in clinical practice.

In-depth, semi-structured interviews allow for the exploration of clinicians’ points of view, experiences, feelings, and perspectives. The information obtained will inform the adaptation of a measurement tool for clinician engagement with an evidence-based practice, as well as future implementation strategies within both the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.