Oatmeal Healthoatmealhealth.com · public-data estimate, October 2026

University of Kentucky Healthcare

Lung screening gap across 36 counties in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia

80,000to130,000adults in its service area qualify for lung cancer screening and are not being screened

About 1,800 people here are diagnosed with lung cancer each year, and 65% are found at a late stage, when it is hardest to treat.

Explore the screening network
KYVATNOHINNCWV
36 counties4 acute care hospitalsService area
100,000 to 160,000adults likely qualify under USPSTF 2021 criteria (estimate)
1,100lung cancer deaths a year in these counties, 2020 to 2024
21.0%of eligible adults screened in these states, vs 18.2% nationally

Estimates from public data only; no patient information. Sources and method below.

Where the eligible adults live

The counties where most of University of Kentucky Healthcare's Medicare inpatients live. Darker areas hold more adults who likely qualify, which is where outreach would start. Hover or tap any area for its estimate.

Adults likely eligible, per neighborhood

0+200+260+310+370+420+510+

Acute care hospital in this system

Counties in the service area

CountyStateAdults likely eligibleLung cancer deaths per 100kMedicare screens billed locally, 2024
Fayette CountyKentucky14,400 to 29,60032.31,771
Madison CountyKentucky4,900 to 8,60050.313
Pulaski CountyKentucky5,500 to 7,50055.8None billed locally
Scioto CountyOhio5,200 to 7,50058.1971
Pike CountyKentucky5,000 to 7,00065.4150
Laurel CountyKentucky4,700 to 6,50059.3None billed locally
Lawrence CountyOhio4,000 to 6,20064.5None billed locally
Franklin CountyKentucky2,900 to 5,80041.8108
Jessamine CountyKentucky2,600 to 5,50038.9None billed locally
Boyd CountyKentucky3,300 to 5,50049.8340
Scott CountyKentucky2,900 to 5,30043.8None billed locally
Wayne CountyWest Virginia3,100 to 4,90053.5None billed locally
Floyd CountyKentucky2,800 to 4,20072.5118
Greenup CountyKentucky2,500 to 4,20048.1None billed locally
Clark CountyKentucky2,500 to 4,10047.8None billed locally
Whitley CountyKentucky2,500 to 3,60074.9152
Boyle CountyKentucky1,800 to 3,30045.081
Woodford CountyKentucky1,300 to 3,20039.6None billed locally
Harlan CountyKentucky2,500 to 3,00067.7None billed locally
Perry CountyKentucky2,100 to 3,00076.7None billed locally
Carter CountyKentucky2,000 to 3,00063.6None billed locally
Montgomery CountyKentucky2,100 to 3,00064.9None billed locally
Lincoln CountyKentucky1,800 to 2,80061.0None billed locally
Mercer CountyKentucky1,500 to 2,60049.6None billed locally
Johnson CountyKentucky2,100 to 2,60054.7None billed locally
Anderson CountyKentucky1,800 to 2,50045.4None billed locally
Wayne CountyKentucky1,900 to 2,50051.8None billed locally
Bourbon CountyKentucky1,400 to 2,40042.3None billed locally
Harrison CountyKentucky1,400 to 2,20059.7None billed locally
Rowan CountyKentucky1,300 to 2,20060.1152
Garrard CountyKentucky1,400 to 2,10059.6None billed locally
Rockcastle CountyKentucky1,500 to 2,00066.0None billed locally
Lawrence CountyKentucky1,300 to 1,80065.618
Fleming CountyKentucky1,300 to 1,70048.1None billed locally
Powell CountyKentucky910 to 1,30079.8None billed locally
Martin CountyKentucky1,000 to 1,20063.2None billed locally

25 of the 36 counties had no Medicare lung screening reads billed from a local address in 2024. County names link to their Missing Millions page.

What closing the gap would mean

If screening in these counties rose from 21.0% to 26.0%, five points above today, about 5,100 to 8,200 more people would be screened each year.

In the National Lung Screening Trial, low-dose CT screening lowered lung cancer deaths by 20% compared with chest X-ray. Today about 65% of lung cancers here are found at a late stage.

Illustrative estimate: eligible adults (range) times the change in screening rate. Not a forecast or a guarantee.

Each year in these counties

1,800new lung cancers
1,200found at a late stage
1,100lung cancer deaths

NCI and CDC State Cancer Profiles, annual averages.

Screening at University of Kentucky Healthcare today

Clinicians at University of Kentucky Healthcare locations billed 625 low-dose CT lung screening reads to Medicare fee-for-service in 2024. Including Medicare Advantage and other insurers, we estimate about 1,500 to 4,100 screenings a year.

Most adults who qualify see a primary care clinician every year. We count 1,251 primary care clinicians, 27 pulmonologists and 25 thoracic surgeons practicing at University of Kentucky Healthcare locations. A 20 pack-year smoking history is often missing from structured EHR fields, so many eligible patients are never flagged.

CMS Medicare Physician and Other Practitioners 2024 (CPT 71271); clinicians matched to University of Kentucky Healthcare by practice address using the AHRQ Compendium of U.S. Health Systems 2023, so reads billed by outside radiology groups are not included. The all-payer estimate scales Medicare fee-for-service by the local Medicare Advantage share (59%, CMS) and, at the high end, by the share of eligible adults under 65 (63%).

4 acute care hospitals

  • University HospitalLexington, KY
  • Kings Daughters Medical CenterAshland, KY
  • Kings Daughters Med Center OhioPortsmouth, OH
  • Good Samaritan HospitalLexington, KY

Find them, reach them, give radiologists a second opinion

LungIQ Find

Reads clinical notes, diagnoses and medications in the EHR and returns a ranked list of patients likely eligible, including those whose pack-year history is missing. Start with a CSV export refreshed every 1, 3 or 6 months, or connect through FHIR or HL7.

LungNAV Reach

An AI patient navigator that texts and calls patients in 70+ languages, answers questions about the scan, and hands each patient to your scheduling team or nurse navigators with a call summary.

LungAI Second opinion

Gives radiologists a malignancy risk score for each nodule, factoring in change since the prior scan, inside the PACS and CADe software they already use. The radiologist makes the final call.

LungAI is an investigational medical device and has not been cleared by FDA. It is not commercially available in the United States.

How we estimate the gap

Modeled estimates from public data. They are not a count of University of Kentucky Healthcare patients and contain no patient information.

  • Service area: CMS Hospital Service Area File 2025 (counties within 120 miles of a system hospital holding 80% of its Medicare inpatients, plus any county with at least 1%); hospitals from the AHRQ Compendium of U.S. Health Systems, 2023.
  • Eligible adults, low estimate: Oatmeal Health Missing Millions (Census 2025 population, CDC PLACES smoking, USPSTF 2021).
  • Eligible adults, high estimate: University of Minnesota National Lung Cancer Screening Estimates (Haynes 2026), which also counts former smokers.
  • Screening rate: American Lung Association, State of Lung Cancer 2025.
  • Lung cancer cases and deaths: NCI and CDC State Cancer Profiles (incidence 2019 to 2023, deaths 2020 to 2024).
  • Screening volume: CMS Medicare Physician and Other Practitioners, 2024; CMS Medicare Advantage State/County Penetration, September 2026.

LungAI is an investigational medical device and has not been cleared by FDA. Oatmeal Health is preparing a 510(k) premarket notification. LungAI is not commercially available in the United States.

See University of Kentucky Healthcare's own numbers

In a 30 minute review we replace these public estimates with counts from your own records and agree on what a first program would look like.

Request a private screening review