Category: Colorectal Cancer Control Program

Georgia Center for Oncology Research and Education (Georgia CORE), a unique statewide organization formed in 2003, became a recipient of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP) grant in 2020, and formed a collaborative partnership with Augusta University and Horizons, South Georgia’s Cancer Coalition. Together they built a program that includes 20 clinics in 18 counties from three separate FQHCs to offer free CRC screening to eligible patients in a mostly rural and largely underserved area, employing five evidence-based interventions to increase screening. Of note, the partnership launched Augusta University’s TeleECHO CRC Screening project that has held 22 sessions since 2022, educating providers about how to increase CRC screening rates. Between 2021 and 2023, CRC screening rates in southeast Georgia rose from 34% to 45%, increasing 11 percentage points in just two years. Furthermore, in southwest Georgia, participating clinics screened more than 1,500 more patients for CRC in 2023 (6,309 screened versus 4,748 in 2022). They are most proud of building diverse and collaborative partnerships to best serve rural Georgians, including with FQHCs, health systems, an academic institution, and a regional cancer coalition. Learn more about them here. 

Category: Health System  

Marshall is a health system located in and serving El Dorado County, CA, with a particular focus on engaging their rural community, the most vulnerable, and getting those aged 45-49 screened for CRC. Over the past year, their overall CRC screening rate rose three percentage points to 82%, while their efforts to impact younger populations (aged 45-49) have increased that age group’s screening rate to 61%, up by 8 percentage points in one year. Supported by a grant from Exact Sciences, Marshall used a multifaceted and tailored approach to reach people for CRC screening, including collaborative community outreach events, small media (including in multiple languages), evidence-based provider and staff education, clinical champion development, standing orders for stool-based tests, enhanced outreach to vulnerable patients, and minimizing financial barriers to screening and care by offering transportation and cost-reduction programs. They are most proud of the close working partnership between their primary care providers, cancer center leaders, and their population health departments, who all came together around the common goal to serve their community and increase CRC screening rates.  Learn more about them here. 

Category: Health Plan

Peoples Health is a Medicare Advantage plan serving over 140,000 members in Louisiana. Through participation in the Louisiana Payors Council (LPC) and as a founding member of the non-profit organization Taking Aim at Cancer in Louisiana (TACL), Peoples Health has prioritized CRC screening within its population and across the state. Chief Medical Officer at Peoples Health, Dr. Brent Wallis, is the Chair of the LPC, which has advocated for unified CRC screening promotion and messaging across all payors, resulting in collaborative one-pagers and a state-wide CRC Screening Registry for Medicaid recipients; and for engaged payors to enact policy change to eliminate copays for a follow-up colonoscopy, even before doing so was required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Peoples Health increased CRC screening rates of its plan members from 50% in 2021 to 54% in 2023, representing almost 28,000 screened members, with many parishes reporting rates over 60%. The organization eliminated screening disparities between Black and White members of its population, resulting in 56% and 53% screening parity, respectively. Peoples Health is proud of taking an “all hands” approach to increasing CRC screening among its health plan members, and in supporting the importance of CRC screening across Louisiana through its participation with TACL. Learn more about their work here.

Category: Screening Program

Project 80% is a screening program designed to reduce incidence and mortality related CRC in Central, East, Southeast and West Texas and the Rio Grande Valley, specifically focused in rural and urban health professional shortage areas. Based out of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Project 80% works in partnership with 176 community clinics and FQHCs and is supported by funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). To date, Project 80% has resulted almost 135,000 fecal immunochemical tests (FITs), culminating in 7,750 colonoscopies completed, which translates to a 75% follow-up rate after an abnormal FIT or direct referral for increased risk participants. The program uses multiple tactics including providing free screening for those without insurance, patient reminders, individual and group education, provider reminders, provider feedback and assessment, as well as reduction of structural barriers through patient navigation provided by Community Health Workers (CHWs) fluent in English and Spanish. They are most proud of how their providers, clinical teams, endoscopy partners, and CHWs have come together to navigate the most vulnerable to CRC screening and the sheer reach they’ve had in their communities over time.  Learn more about their work here.