Institutional commitment to rectal cancer screening results in earlier-stage cancers on diagnosis.

Background: The Veterans Administration hospitals underwent an institutional directive in 1998 to meet a colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) standard. This intervention should result in an increase in the hospital's screening rate and percentage of early-stage rectal cancers diagnosed.

Methods: A retrospective review, from 1991 to 2002, of our institution's pathology and cancer registry databases for rectal cancers.