Dear NCCRT Members

 

Welcome to November! We have a few updates to share with you today.

Just Three Days Left to Register for the 2022 NCCRT Annual Meeting!

If you haven’t already registered for the 2022 NCCRT Annual Meeting on November 16-18 in Baltimore, Maryland, don’t miss your chance! Be sure to complete your registration before registration closes end of day Friday, November 4th.

We’re excited to offer a dynamic agenda with expert speakers focusing on trends in colorectal screening rates, actions to address implicit bias and promote health equity, and the future of colorectal cancer screening, among other topics. Download the agenda from our meeting webpage.

NCCRT members should have received their personalized registration link in an email from the “The NCCRT Team” (please check your spam/junk email if you are having trouble locating it). Email nccrt@cancer.org with questions.

Last but not least, we’re thrilled to announce that we’ve reached a record $120,000 in sponsorships for the 2022 NCCRT Annual Meeting! THANK YOU to the organizations and individuals who have pledged a contribution. Learn more about sponsorship opportunities and recognition on our website.

 

New NCCRT LinkedIn Page

Want to stay up-to-date with what is going on at NCCRT? Follow our NEW LinkedIn page for the latest updates! NCCRT also maintains a Twitter page. Follow one or both pages and use and follow #NCCRT2022 for our annual meeting and #80inEveryCommunity throughout the year.

 

The American Cancer Society Launches Two New National Cancer Roundtables

The American Cancer Society launched the ACS National Breast Cancer Roundtable and the ACS National Roundtable on Cervical Cancer in an event at the White House with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden on Monday, October 24th, joining the NCCRT, the National Lung Cancer Roundtable, and the National Navigation Roundtable as the latest additions to ACS’s mission-critical national roundtables.

The new roundtables are in response to President Biden’s relaunch of Cancer Moonshot, which aims to cut the death rate from cancer by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years and improve the experience of people and their families living with and surviving cancer.

The ACS-led roundtables provide the nation with an effective and proven model to catalyze change and investment across the cancer continuum by utilizing an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach. In bringing together scientists, the medical community, leading public health agencies, the private sector and community organizations, the President’s goal can be achieved by accelerating our efforts to improve cancer outcomes.

The roundtables align with the President’s Cancer Panel Report – Closing Gaps in Cancer Screening: Connecting People, Communities, and Systems to Improve Equity and Access. Additionally, the roundtables are consistent with the ACS National Consortium for Cancer Screening and Care recommendations to accelerate the adoption of evidence-based cancer screening intervention and policies through coordinated efforts from roundtables and coalitions.

View and share the ACS press release.

If your cancer-related interests go beyond colorectal cancer, we encourage you to visit the new roundtable websites and follow them on social media.

 

Reminder: Submit your Nominations for the 2023 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards

Nominations are open for the 2023 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards, a competitive recognition program that seeks to highlight colorectal cancer screening success stories by recognizing individuals and organizations who are dedicating their time, talent and expertise to advancing the shared goal to reach colorectal cancer screening rates of 80% and higher in communities across the nation.

Visit the awards webpage to learn about contest rules, prizes and recognition, and to submit your nomination. The nominations deadline is November 22, 2022.

The 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards program is made possible in part by support from Platinum sponsors to our 2022 NCCRT Annual Meeting. Thank you to Guardant Health and Labcorp for sponsoring the 2022 awards program!

 

Many thanks for the great work you do!

The NCCRT Team

Many thanks for the great work you do!

The NCCRT Team

Dear NCCRT Members,

 

We have a couple updates to share with you today!

Nominations for the 2023 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards Are Open!

The NCCRT is pleased to announce that nominations are open for the 2023 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards, a competitive recognition program that seeks to highlight colorectal cancer screening success stories by recognizing individuals and organizations who are dedicating their time, talent and expertise to advancing the shared goal to reach colorectal cancer screening rates of 80% and higher in communities across the nation. Of course, we welcome nominations of partners who have reached 80%, but we are also looking to recognize systems who are seeing noted improvements in baseline screening rates or recognize individual champions who have made a difference through leadership or other means.

Visit the awards webpage to learn about contest rules, prizes and recognition, and to submit your nomination. The top nominee will receive a $3,000 donation to support their efforts (see the website for details and exceptions). The nominations deadline is November 22, 2022.

Would you be willing to help us promote the call for nominations to the 2023 awards program? Use the template newsletter blurb below in your newsletter or listservs to share this opportunity with your colleagues and partners! We also encourage you to retweet/repost the messages we are sharing through @NCCRTnews. Thank you!

The 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards program is made possible in part by support from Platinum sponsors to our 2022 NCCRT Annual Meeting. Thank you to Guardant Health and Labcorp for sponsoring the 2022 awards program!

Template Newsletter Blurb

Submit Nominations to the 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards

The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT) is seeking nominations for the 2023 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards, a competitive recognition program that seeks to highlight colorectal cancer screening success stories. Nominations for individuals or organizations and self-nominations are accepted. The top nominee will receive a $3,000 donation to support their efforts. The nominations deadline is November 22, 2022. Learn more and submit a nomination.

 

NCCRT Primary Care Meeting Report Now Available

On August 12, 2022, in Washington, DC, the NCCRT and the American Cancer Society, with support from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Stand Up to Cancer, held a Primary Care Strategy Meeting: Catalyzing Primary Care to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening. The purpose of this meeting was to convene leading experts and thinkers from key national and local organizations to explore and propose strategies for increasing the uptake of CRC screening in primary care. This post-meeting summary captures the forward-looking discussions and strategic planning while outlining the case examples, NCCRT tools and resources available to support CRC screening in primary care settings.

The meeting summary includes an overview of the current state of CRC screening in the primary care setting, successes in advancing CRC screening in primary care despite ongoing challenges, an overview of NCCRT tools and research available to support primary care clinicians, strategic planning for overcoming prioritized barriers, and the successful partnership between NCCRT and the American Association of Medical Assistance (AAMA).

Welcome our Newest NCCRT Members!

We are pleased to announce the addition of 10 new NCCRT member organizations:

• AdventHealth Waterman Cancer Institute
• AltaMed Health Services Corporation
• Arizona Department of Health Services
• Georgia CORE
• Inspira Health
• Kansas Department of Health and Environment
• Missouri Colorectal Cancer Roundtable
• Quality Health Associates of North Dakota
• Sonora Quest Laboratories
• Universal Diagnostics (corporate associate)

Please join us in extending a warm welcome to these new NCCRT members!

Thinking about applying for membership? Review our membership overview and application if you think membership might be a good fit for your organization. Questions? Email nccrt@cancer.org.

Many thanks for the great work you do!

The NCCRT Team

Many thanks for the great work you do!

The NCCRT Team

Dear NCCRT Members,

 

We have a couple updates to share with you today.

 

2022 NCCRT Annual Meeting Agenda Updates

We’re pleased to share we’ve confirmed several exciting updates to the agenda for our 2022 NCCRT Annual Meeting on November 16-18 in Baltimore, Maryland. Review a few topics below:

• Screening at 45: What We Know So Far
• Follow Up to Abnormal Non-Colonoscopy Testing: Moving from Policy to Implementation
• Implicit Bias in Health Care and the Impact on Survivorship
• Current and Future Colorectal Cancer Screening Strategies
• And many more timely sessions on colorectal cancer screening policy and delivery

If you haven’t already, be sure to register and reserve your hotel room by end of day October 19 to ensure you can book a room in our hotel block.

NCCRT members should have received their personalized registration link in a reminder email from the “The NCCRT Team” this morning (please check your spam/junk email if you are having trouble locating it). Please note: you must register using the same email address at which you received your registration invitation.

Download the agenda and learn about our generous 2022 meeting sponsors (it’s not too late to add your organization’s name to the list!) on our meeting webpage.

NCCRT Response to the NEJM Colonoscopy Study

NCCRT Members may have already seen the recent New England Journal of Medicine article, Effect of Colonoscopy Screening on Risks of Colorectal Cancer and Related Death, which is garnering a lot of attention in the national press and on social media. Below you will find a statement from our NCCRT co-chairs, Steven Itzkowitz, MD, FACP, FACG, AGAF, Professor of Medicine, Oncological Sciences and Medical Education, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Robert Smith, PhD, Senior Vice President, Cancer Screening at the American Cancer Society.

On October 9, 2022, the New England Journal of Medicine published the first results of the Pragmatic NordICC Trial of Colonoscopy, which was conducted in Poland, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands to measure the efficacy of colonoscopy in reducing colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. The study evaluated the outcomes of 84,585 participants, with 28,220 in the invited group and 56,365 in the usual-care group, ie, they were not offered colorectal cancer screening. Screening took place from 2009 and 2014, and participants were followed up for a median of 10 years. When comparing the group invited to receive a colonoscopy with the group who received usual-care, the risk of colorectal cancer at 10 years was 0.98% in the invited group and 1.20% in the usual-care group, a statistically significant reduction in risk of developing colorectal cancer of 18%. However, the investigators only observed a 10% reduced risk of dying from colorectal cancer that was not statistically significant. When the analysis was restricted to individuals who were invited to screening and underwent screening (a per protocol analysis), the investigators observed statistically significant 31% reduction in the risk of developing colorectal cancer, and a statistically significant 50% reduction in the risk of dying from colorectal cancer. These differences are more in keeping with what we would expect based on prior research.

Is it possible that we’ve been wrong about the efficacy of colorectal cancer screening with colonoscopy? The answer is emphatically, No.

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are regarded as the gold standard for evaluating the efficacy of an intervention, which is why there are several ongoing RCTs for colonoscopy worldwide, including NordICC. In the meantime, the efficacy of colorectal cancer screening was established with RCTs of fecal occult blood testing. We have RCTs for flexible sigmoidoscopy that have shown statistically significant reductions in colorectal cancer mortality, and studies of CT colonography validated by colonoscopy. Based on indirect evidence, colonoscopy has been a recommended screening option in the US since the mid-1990s. So, the results of the NordICC are counterintuitive, and at this time are not definitive. Here are some possible explanations.

First, only 42% of the group that agreed to receive an invitation to have a colonoscopy actually adhered to the invitation, and it varied among the three participating countries from a high of 60% in Norway to a low of 33% in Poland. Second, the duration of follow-up is difficult to determine, but it is clear that if a study subject was screened in 2014, they could only have at most seven years of follow-up, which is too short. Keep in mind that the study findings include a significant 18% reduction in incidence and a 10% reduction in deaths, so it is reasonable to conclude that there has been too little follow-up and that more favorable results will be evident in the next 5-10 years. Third, we should want to learn more about the quality of the examinations, since an earlier study report showed that about a third of examiners did not meet metrics for adenoma detection rates. Fourth, if we examine the published supplemental material, Norway, which had two times the participation rate, had 24% lower incidence in the intention to treat analysis (everyone in the invited group whether they had a colonoscopy or not), and 45% lower incidence in the per protocol analysis (those who actually got a colonoscopy). The authors did not include mortality reductions by country in the main paper or the supplementary material, but a main driver of reduced colorectal cancer deaths is not ever developing colorectal cancer due to polypectomy during colonoscopy. This reduction in the disease-specific death rate will take longer to observe. Some of these points were raised in an editorial written by Drs. Jason Dominitz and Douglas Robertson published alongside the NordICC study.

In short, these early results do not cause us to question the value of colonoscopy. Rather, given the low uptake of colonoscopy in the study, we are reminded of the importance of offering all proven screening options to patients when recommending colorectal cancer screening including stool-based testing and CT colonography.

The NCCRT is committed to continuing our work to save more lives from colorectal cancer by increasing the use of proven colorectal cancer screening tests. With our 80% in Every Community campaign, we work in collaboration with our more than 180 members to substantially reduce colorectal cancer as a major public health problem in communities across the nation. Learn more about the NCCRT, 80% in Every Community, and the evidence-based resources available to support your work to increase colorectal cancer screening.

The American Cancer Society also shared a statement.

Call for NCCRT Steering Committee Nominations

We are currently seeking nominations for the NCCRT Steering Committee. The NCCRT Steering Committee provides strategic guidance to the NCCRT through participation in Steering Committee meetings, calls, and the NCCRT Annual Meeting. Steering Committee responsibilities include strategic planning, membership approval, oversight of NCCRT projects, and general leadership. The term of service is for two years beginning November 2022 and is renewable for one term. The names of nominees are submitted to the Nominating Committee, which reviews the nominations and selects the slate of Steering Committee candidates. The slate of candidates will be presented by email to the NCCRT membership prior to the Annual Meeting to be voted on at the Annual Meeting, which will be held November 16-18.

Self-nominations are accepted. Traditionally, the Nominating Committee has preferred candidates who have a history of engagement with the NCCRT. Representatives from our Corporate Associates may not serve on the Steering Committee, but they may nominate other candidates. Please note that nominees are not guaranteed a spot on the Steering Committee, as this can be a competitive process. Having said that, we are grateful to all individuals who are willing to put themselves forward as nominees. Serving on the Steering Committee is a big commitment, and Steering Committee members play a vital role in the work of the NCCRT.

If you are interested in submitting your name to the Nominating Committee for consideration or would like to nominate someone, please email Emily Butler Bell at Emily.Butler@cancer.org by end of day Friday, October 21st. Nominees are asked to submit a Statement of Interest (1,000 word maximum) along with a CV by this deadline.

 

Many thanks for the great work you do!

The NCCRT Team

Many thanks for the great work you do!

The NCCRT Team

Dear NCCRT Members ,

 

We have a few updates to share with you today.

Don’t Miss Out on Early Bird Registration for the 2022 NCCRT Annual Meeting!

 

We hope you are planning to join us at the 2022 NCCRT Annual Meeting on November 16-18 in Baltimore, Maryland! Be sure to complete your registration by Friday, September 30 at 11:59 PM ET to receive the early bird rate of $275 before the regular rate of $325 goes into effect on October 1.

Registration Tips:

• NCCRT members that have not yet registered should have received a reminder registration invitation email from the “The NCCRT Team” yesterday.
• Please check your spam/junk email if you are having trouble locating it.
• When you register, please be sure to enter the email address at which you received your registration invitation email to avoid receiving an error message.

Most member organizations and corporate associates send one or two member representatives to the meeting, but we can accommodate up to four representatives to attend. Please email nccrt@cancer.org if you did not receive your invitation, or to let us know if your member representatives have changed.

Lastly, we would greatly appreciate it if you would consider sponsoring the 2022 NCCRT Annual Meeting! THANK YOU to the fifteen organizations and individuals who have already pledged a contribution. Learn more about sponsorship opportunities and recognition on our website.

New Resource: 80% in Every Community Employer Challenge Guide

Employers can help save lives from colorectal cancer by encouraging their employees to get screened and reduce their risk of getting the disease.

The newly released 80% in Every Community Employer Challenge Guide provides tools, resources, and messaging to make it easy for employers to effectively increase timely, quality colorectal cancer screening in their workforce. The guide includes:

• The case for colorectal cancer screening for employers
• Step-by-step instructions to determine the screening rate
• Screening promotion activity ideas
• Case stories of success
• And more!

Whether you work at a corporation, cancer center, health plan, non-profit, etc., you can find resources to help you ensure colorectal cancer screening is a priority in your workplace. It’s never too earlier to start planning your activities for March, National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month!

 

ICYMI: Newly Updated Steps Guide for Increasing CRC Screening in Primary Care

Earlier this month we released the newly updated Steps for Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates: A Manual for Primary Care Practices, a much-anticipated update to the signature NCCRT resource that has been instrumental in helping primary care practices throughout the United States achieve improvements in their colorectal cancer screening rates. The 2022 edition includes:

• An expanded scope to include all primary care settings
• Current screening guidelines and new screening modalities
• Expert-endorsed strategies
• 10 case studies – coming soon
• Samples, templates, and tools
• Updated literature references

Spread the Word: We encourage you to share this new resource widely! Share the promotional video (see below!), retweet from @NCCRTnews, and visit the webpage to find sample social media posts, template newsletter blurbs, and shareable graphics and animations.

 

 

Many thanks for the great work you do!

The NCCRT Team

Dear NCCRT Members & 80% Partners,

 

We hope your fall is off to a great start! We have a very exciting release to share with you today.

Released Today: Newly Updated Steps Guide for Increasing CRC Screening in Primary Care

We are excited to announce the release of the newly updated Steps for Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates: A Manual for Primary Care Practices, a much-anticipated update to the signature NCCRT resource that has been instrumental in helping primary care practices throughout the United States achieve improvements in their colorectal cancer screening rates.

 

Through a step-by-step format, this newly updated manual provides evidence-based, expert-endorsed strategies to improve colorectal cancer screening rates in primary care practices. The 2022 edition includes:

• An expanded scope to include all primary care settings
• Current screening guidelines and new screening modalities
• Expert-endorsed strategies
• Samples, templates, and tools
• Updated literature references

As a companion to the new Steps Guide, we will release ten extensive case studies from diverse and exemplary clinical practices later this fall.

A primary care clinician recommendation is the most powerful influence on a patient’s decision to get screened for cancer.

We look forward to learning about how you use the Steps Guide to increase potentially life-saving colorectal cancer screening in the communities you serve.

Spread the Word: We encourage you to share this new resource widely! Share the promotional video (see below!), retweet from @NCCRTnews, and visit the webpage to find sample social media posts, template newsletter blurbs, and shareable graphics and animations.

Acknowledgements: The NCCRT would like to thank the numerous people who generously offered their time and expertise to the development of this updated second edition. The NCCRT is especially grateful to the advisory committee, who generously offered their time and expertise to develop this guidebook’s research and content, to HealthEfficient for serving as the lead author on this second edition, and to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for their support.

Many thanks for the great work you do!

The NCCRT Team

Dear NCCRT Members & 80% Partners,

 

We have a few exciting updates to share with you this week!

Planning to Attend the 2022 NCCRT Annual Meeting?

We hope you are saving the dates to join us for NCCRT’s 26th Annual Meeting on November 16-18, 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland!

Registration: Your personalized link to register as a member will arrive in your inbox within the next couple weeks. In the meantime, please email nccrt@cancer.org to let us know if your member representatives have changed or if you’d like to check who we have listed as your organization’s member representatives. This year we will offer an early bird rate of $275 through September 30th, followed by a regular rate of $325. Most member organizations and corporate associates send one or two member representatives to the meeting, but we can accommodate up to four representatives to attend.

Sponsorship: Each year our program is made possible by the generous support of our members and partners. Visit our Sponsorship Opportunities webpage to learn more about sponsorship and recognition. Thank you to the organizations that have made generous contributions in past years!

New Contractor Opportunity with NCCRT

The NCCRT team is seeking a contractor to lead in the development and production of an immersive program for a soon-to-be launched learning collaborative hosted by the NCCRT and our American Cancer Society Comprehensive Cancer Control Initiatives colleagues. Our goal is for participants to improve their knowledge around CRC interventions to improve health equity and enhance their skills and capacity to build a tailored health communications campaign by utilizing current data and NCCRT market research findings to tailor custom messaging to populations of focus in their communities.

Do you know of an agency or independent contractor that might be a good fit for the NCCRT? Please share our request for proposals, which has a deadline of September 12, 2022. For any additional information, or to make an email introduction, please contact Kaitlin Sylvester, Director, NCCRT – Programs & Partnerships at Kaitlin.Sylvester@cancer.org.

New Mailed FIT Resource Added to the NCCRT Resource Center

We invite you to visit the NCCRT Resource Center to check out the latest external partner resource:

 

The Mailed FIT Implementation Guide provides a roadmap for how health systems and other entities can design and carry out mailed fecal immunochemical test (FIT) outreach programs, including information on key partnerships and what to have in place before launching a program. The guide was produced in partnership with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Do you have a resource that you think would be a good fit for the Resource Center? Learn how to submit a resource.

Welcome our Newest NCCRT Members!

We are pleased to announce the addition of seven new NCCRT member organizations:

• American Medical Group Association
• Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas
• Hitting Cancer Below the Belt
• Michigan Department of Health & Human Services, Cancer Prevention and Control Section
• Nebraska Cancer Coalition
• Owensboro Health
• Western Wayne Family Health Centers

Please join us in extending a warm welcome to these new NCCRT members!

Many thanks for the great work you do!

The NCCRT Team

Dear NCCRT Members & 80% Partners,

 

We have a few exciting updates to share with you this week!

New 80% Blog Post: NCCRT Director Update – August 2022

Don’t miss the latest post on the 80% Blog from Emily Bell and Kaitlin Sylvester, NCCRT co-directors. Emily and Kaitlin share their gratitude for the NCCRT membership’s collective efforts in supporting NCCRT current and in-progress work summarized in the “State of the NCCRT” presentation that was prepared for the annual NCCRT steering committee retreat that took place in Washington, DC last week.

2021 UDS Data on CRC Screening in FQHCs Now Available

Last week, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) released the 2021 UDS (Uniform Data System) data for national Health Center Program awardees (federally qualified health centers). HRSA reported an overall colorectal cancer screening rate of 41.93% in 2021, which demonstrates a nearly two percentage point increase from the 2020 rate of 40.09%. However, this rate is down from the peak rate of 45.6% in 2019, no doubt reflective of the myriad of challenges health centers faced and continue to face due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, despite these challenges, health centers screened 2,680,583 patients in 2021, which amounts to an additional 231,607 screenings in one year (2,448,976 in 2020).

The NCCRT would like to congratulate our partners at HRSA and the National Association for Community Health Centers (NACHC) for championing efforts to increase CRC screening among their grantee and member health centers partners. And most of all, we’d like to share a huge round of applause for the staff and providers at health centers for their persistence and innovation in working day in and day out to provide eligible patients with the opportunity to screen for this largely preventable disease. Visit the HRSA website to learn more about the UDS measure and to find the UDS screening rate for health centers in your state. Visit NCCRT’s Data & Progress webpage to learn about our progress with other national measures.

Replay Available: Webinar Preview of NCCRT’s Soon-to-be-released 2022 Steps Guide

Did you miss NCCRT’s webinar preview of the soon-to-be-released 2022 Steps for Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates: A Manual for Primary Care Practices on July 25, 2022? Now you can watch the replay! Watch for the release announcement in this newsletter in the next one to two weeks.

Exact Sciences Announces new Grant RFP & Webinar Opportunity

Exact Sciences, an NCCRT member, announced a new opportunity through the Funding Opportunities for CRC Screening Uptake Strategies or FOCUS Program. This Request for Proposal is similar to the one launched in July 2022 but is most appropriate for community organizations looking to impact colorectal cancer screening through community-focused efforts. The Request for Proposal outlines all the details necessary to determine eligibility and criteria for applying.

All interested parties are encouraged to follow the link under the Intent to Apply section of the RFP on page 5 to share their contact information to receive further outreach about this process. A template proposal form and application portal are also available.

Opportunities to learn more about this process and ask questions are linked under the Application Key Dates in the RFP, including an informational webinar on August 22nd at 1:00pm ET and office hours on August 29th and August 31st. Applications for RFP FOCUS2-22 will be accepted from August 1, 2022 – August 31, 2022, at 11:59 PM CDT.

Exact Sciences will also be hosting a live webinar titled, “The Exact Science Behind Cologuard®: Prioritizing Equity to Increase Access to Screening Thursday, August 18, 2022, with viewing options at 2:00pm ET and 6:00pm ET. Questions may be submitted in advance to MedAffairs@exactsciences.com.

Many thanks for the great work you do!

The NCCRT Team

Dear NCCRT Members:

 

We have several exciting updates to share with you this week.

Released Today: 2022 Messaging Guidebook for Black & African American People

We are excited to announce the release of the new 2022 Messaging Guidebook for Black & African American People: Messages to Motivate for Colorectal Cancer Screening, which highlights new market research focused on identifying barriers to colorectal cancer screening, describes preferred and trusted sources for receiving healthcare information, and provides research-tested messages to help encourage unscreened Black and African American people to seek colorectal cancer screening.

Black and African American people experience disproportionately high incidence and mortality rates from colorectal cancer, with colorectal cancer death rates almost 40% higher than those of white people. While screening is only one element of the work to address these colorectal cancer disparities, it is essential to promote screening in the best way possible. This new guidebook is intended to provide recommendations to enhance marketing and communication efforts while providing tools to strengthen communication campaigns that resonate with Black and African American communities.

Acknowledgements: The NCCRT would like to thank the Public Awareness & Social Media Strategic Priority Team and Advisory Committee, who generously offered their time and expertise to develop this guidebook’s research and content. We also want to extend a special thank you to Quest Diagnostics, the Association of Black Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists, and Elevance Health Foundation for their support and guidance in conducting the market research and developing this guidebook.

Spread the Word: We encourage you to share this new resource with your partners. Retweet from @NCCRTnews and visit the resource webpage to find sample social media posts, template newsletter blurbs, and a shareable graphic.

Thank you to the many members and partners that contributed to this very important resource! We are excited to see how you use these findings to reach the communities you serve.

 

Reminder: Register for the Webinar Release of NCCRT’s Newly Updated Steps Guide for Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening in Primary Care

Date: Monday, July 25, 2022

Time: 1:00-2:00 PM ET

 

Register now for the upcoming webinar release of NCCRT’s Steps for Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Manual for Primary Care Practices, an updated second edition to the first edition originally published in 2014. This edition has been expanded to include all primary care settings and updated to reflect current guidelines, new screening modalities, 10 case studies of exemplary practice sites, and updated literature references. The first edition was one of the NCCRT’s most popular resources and has been instrumental in helping primary care practices throughout the United States achieve improvements in their colorectal cancer screening rates.

Speakers:
• Laura Makaroff, DO, Senior Vice President, Prevention and Early Detection, American Cancer Society
• Michelle Tropper, MPH, Director of Clinical Programs, Health Efficient
• Keith Winfrey, MD, MPH, FACP, Chief Medical Officer, New Orleans East Louisiana Community Health Center
• Frank Colangelo, MD, MS-HQS, Chief Quality Officer, Premier Medical Associates

Registration is free and is open to NCCRT members, 80% Pledge partners, CDC grantees, ACS and ACS CAN staff, and other partners working to increase colorectal cancer screening rates. Pre-registration is required.

Many thanks for the great work you do!

The NCCRT Team

Proposed Medicare Rule Would Remove Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening

Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released proposed changes to the 2023 Medicare program that, if finalized, would eliminate cost sharing for colonoscopies after an abnormal, non-invasive screening test, and lower the minimum age of colorectal cancer screening to 45. The cost sharing loophole was addressed for individuals with private health plans and Medicaid expansion plans in May.

 

For years NCCRT members have been advocating for a policy fix to ensure patients do not receive charges for colonoscopies that follow an abnormal non-colonoscopy test. (The Affordable Care Act eliminates cost-sharing for United States Preventive Services Task Force–recommended preventative services for individuals who are privately insured, including screening for colorectal cancer, but some health plans have historically applied cost-sharing to follow-up colonoscopies.)

 

This is a tremendous development, thanks in no small part to the work of numerous NCCRT members, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), Fight Colorectal Cancer, and the American Gastroenterological Association.

 

Today’s ACS CAN press release is copied below. Watch this newsletter for further developments with this proposal.

 

Proposed Medicare Rule Would Remove Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening

 

Eliminating Cost Sharing for Complete Screening Will Reduce Health Disparities and Save Lives for Medicare Beneficiaries

 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—July 8, 2022— The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released proposed changes to the 2023 Medicare program that, if finalized, would eliminate cost sharing for colonoscopies after a positive non-invasive screening test, and lower the minimum age of colorectal cancer screening to 45. Lowering the minimum age of coverage from 50 to 45 and providing coverage of medically indicated follow-on colonoscopies with no cost sharing is consistent with the 2018 American Cancer Society screening guidelines and the 2021 United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) colorectal cancer screening guidelines. The proposal would also ensure that Medicare’s coverage provisions are consistent with private and Medicaid expansion plan requirements.

 

“We applaud CMS for proposing to eliminate barriers to cancer screening that will save lives,” said Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). “Currently most Medicare beneficiaries are assessed 20% cost sharing for follow-on colonoscopies after a positive non-invasive test, an anticipated cost that can result in delayed or skipped procedures with potentially life-threatening consequences due to imposing financial hardship for those on fixed incomes.”

 

Studies have demonstrated that delayed colonoscopies after an abnormal non-invasive screening test are associated with higher risk of colorectal cancer incidence, death, and late-stage colorectal cancer. The proposed rule would eliminate this barrier by clarifying that follow up colonoscopies would be covered at no additional cost sharing to beneficiaries beginning January 1, 2023.

 

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network together with Fight Colorectal Cancer and the American Gastroenterological Association advocated for this critical change that would result in cancer prevention and earlier stage colon and rectal cancer diagnoses when survival chances are greater, and the disease is less costly to treat.

 

“Removing this barrier to colorectal cancer screening is a critical step forward toward meeting the President’s Cancer Moonshot challenge to ‘end cancer as we know it,’” said Anjee Davis, President, Fight Colorectal Cancer. “We are grateful to CMS for issuing this proposed rule and, once finalized, it will help prevent more people from hearing the words ‘you have colorectal cancer.’”

 

“This is a win for all patients and should elevate our nation’s screening rates while lowering the overall cancer burden, saving lives. Importantly, the CMS proposed rule changes will lessen colorectal cancer disparities eliminating a financial burden for many patients,” said AGA president John Carethers, MD, AGAF.

The administration’s proposed change explicitly calls out policy alignment with the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable, created by the American Cancer Society and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1997, as well as the American Cancer Society’s 2018 colorectal screening guideline, which notes, “Follow-up colonoscopy is an integral part of the screening process.”

 

“On behalf of cancer patients, survivors and those at risk of future diagnoses, we urge CMS to finalize this change to remove cost barriers to proven, colorectal cancer early detection,” Lacasse said.

 

Many thanks for the great work you do!

 

The NCCRT Team

 

Proposed Medicare Rule Would Remove Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening

Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released proposed changes to the 2023 Medicare program that, if finalized, would eliminate cost sharing for colonoscopies after an abnormal, non-invasive screening test, and lower the minimum age of colorectal cancer screening to 45. The cost sharing loophole was addressed for individuals with private health plans and Medicaid expansion plans in May.

 

For years NCCRT members have been advocating for a policy fix to ensure patients do not receive charges for colonoscopies that follow an abnormal non-colonoscopy test. (The Affordable Care Act eliminates cost-sharing for United States Preventive Services Task Force–recommended preventative services for individuals who are privately insured, including screening for colorectal cancer, but some health plans have historically applied cost-sharing to follow-up colonoscopies.)

 

This is a tremendous development, thanks in no small part to the work of numerous NCCRT members, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), Fight Colorectal Cancer, and the American Gastroenterological Association.

 

Today’s ACS CAN press release is copied below. Watch this newsletter for further developments with this proposal.

 

Proposed Medicare Rule Would Remove Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening

 

Eliminating Cost Sharing for Complete Screening Will Reduce Health Disparities and Save Lives for Medicare Beneficiaries

 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—July 8, 2022— The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released proposed changes to the 2023 Medicare program that, if finalized, would eliminate cost sharing for colonoscopies after a positive non-invasive screening test, and lower the minimum age of colorectal cancer screening to 45. Lowering the minimum age of coverage from 50 to 45 and providing coverage of medically indicated follow-on colonoscopies with no cost sharing is consistent with the 2018 American Cancer Society screening guidelines and the 2021 United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) colorectal cancer screening guidelines. The proposal would also ensure that Medicare’s coverage provisions are consistent with private and Medicaid expansion plan requirements.

 

“We applaud CMS for proposing to eliminate barriers to cancer screening that will save lives,” said Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). “Currently most Medicare beneficiaries are assessed 20% cost sharing for follow-on colonoscopies after a positive non-invasive test, an anticipated cost that can result in delayed or skipped procedures with potentially life-threatening consequences due to imposing financial hardship for those on fixed incomes.”

 

Studies have demonstrated that delayed colonoscopies after an abnormal non-invasive screening test are associated with higher risk of colorectal cancer incidence, death, and late-stage colorectal cancer. The proposed rule would eliminate this barrier by clarifying that follow up colonoscopies would be covered at no additional cost sharing to beneficiaries beginning January 1, 2023.

 

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network together with Fight Colorectal Cancer and the American Gastroenterological Association advocated for this critical change that would result in cancer prevention and earlier stage colon and rectal cancer diagnoses when survival chances are greater, and the disease is less costly to treat.

 

“Removing this barrier to colorectal cancer screening is a critical step forward toward meeting the President’s Cancer Moonshot challenge to ‘end cancer as we know it,’” said Anjee Davis, President, Fight Colorectal Cancer. “We are grateful to CMS for issuing this proposed rule and, once finalized, it will help prevent more people from hearing the words ‘you have colorectal cancer.’”

 

“This is a win for all patients and should elevate our nation’s screening rates while lowering the overall cancer burden, saving lives. Importantly, the CMS proposed rule changes will lessen colorectal cancer disparities eliminating a financial burden for many patients,” said AGA president John Carethers, MD, AGAF.

The administration’s proposed change explicitly calls out policy alignment with the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable, created by the American Cancer Society and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1997, as well as the American Cancer Society’s 2018 colorectal screening guideline, which notes, “Follow-up colonoscopy is an integral part of the screening process.”

 

“On behalf of cancer patients, survivors and those at risk of future diagnoses, we urge CMS to finalize this change to remove cost barriers to proven, colorectal cancer early detection,” Lacasse said.

 

Many thanks for the great work you do!

 

The NCCRT Team