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 [email protected].

Many thanks for the great work you do!

The NCCRT Team