Blog Post

CRC News – Week of October 30, 2017

CRC News – Week of October 30, 2017
The following email news update was shared with NCCRT members and partners on Thursday, November 2nd, 2017. Sign up to subscribe to our regular email updates

NCCRT Annual Meeting Invitations are Out!

Today, NCCRT members should have received a personalized invitation to this year’s NCCRT Annual Meeting, which will be held on Dec. 6th, 7th and 8th in Bethesda, MD at the DoubleTree Hilton. The invitation should have arrived in an email from the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable. If you are an NCCRT member and you did not receive this invitation, please check your spam filter, and then email [email protected]. You can take a view the NCCRT annual meeting agenda here. Pre-conference activities, including the Task Group meetings, will occur on Dec. 6th. Note that members are responsible for their own travel and lodging costs, but members are able to reserve a room in the rooming block during the registration process. If you would like to request a room in the block, we suggest registering as soon as possible. Please note that while members are expected to cover the cost of their own travel, we do have a few travel scholarships available for those members for whom travel costs would prohibit them from attending the meeting. Please email [email protected] for a scholarship application form, if needed. We look forward to seeing you there!

NCCRT Member Organizational Reports are Due December 1st, 2017

It’s that time of year! We know our NCCRT members are doing great work, and we want to hear about it! In preparation for this year’s annual meeting of the NCCRT, members are requested to provide a brief summary of organizational activities focused on colorectal cancer screening since the last NCCRT meeting. New this year, we will be posting the reports to nccrt.org (with your permission), so please plan accordingly. We will only be accepting forms through our online form, but please let us know if you would like a Word copy to help organize your response. Only one response is needed per organization, so please coordinate with your colleagues who are also active in the NCCRT.

These reports will be shared with all members to allow us to see activities underway that contribute to our shared life-saving mission. Please fill out the report online no later than close of business Friday, December 1st.

New Blog Interview with AT&T, 80% by 2018 Partner

A new 80% by 2018 Blog is now live, featuring the work of AT&T, one of the largest organizations to make a commitment to advancing our shared goal to regularly screen 80% of adults ages 50 and over. Learn about AT&T’s innovative approach to increasing colorectal cancer awareness and screening among employees, including the important role of employee work groups and leadership, and how they were able to work with their health plan to track their screening rates. Special thanks to Ben Jackson and Monica Shadden of AT&T for sharing their incredible work with us, and to their ACS staff partner Steven Lange, who supported their work.

If you or your colleagues would like to share on social media, you are welcome to use our shortened URL (http://ow.ly/WL2dI) and/or to retweet/repost the messages we are sharing through @NCCRTnews and facebook.com/coloncancerroundtable.

Newly Updated Brief: What Can Employers Do To Advance the 80% Screening Goal?

Also published today is a new update to our brief on what employers can do to advance the 80% screening goal. Special thanks to Jessica Berger, Durado Brooks, Noel Huebner, Shelley MacAllister, Sarah Shafir, Gregg Walker, and Tracy Wiedt for their feedback on this new resource.

NCI Funding Opportunities: Accelerating Colorectal Cancer Screening and follow-up through Implementation Science (ACCSIS)

NCI has released two companion funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) associated with the Beau Biden Cancer MoonshotSM Initiative intended to accelerate cancer research:

  • Accelerating Colorectal Cancer Screening and follow-up through Implementation Science (ACCSIS) (UG3/UH3) [RFA-CA-17-038]
  • Accelerating Colorectal Cancer Screening and follow-up through Implementation Science (ACCSIS) Coordinating Center (U24) [RFA-CA-17-039]

This purpose of this FOA is to promote research in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, follow-up, and referral-to-care among target populations for whom screening rates are below national standards. This research will provide an evidence base for multilevel interventions that increase rates of CRC screening, follow-up, and referral-to-care, and best practices for how multilevel interventions can be scaled-up to reduce the burden of colorectal cancer on the United States (U.S.) population.

A pre-application webinar will be held on November 17th at 11:00am ET. Registration is required.

Application Due Date: January 18, 2018 by 5:00pm local time of applicant organization

Harvard Business Review, Sanford Health & 80% by 2018

Harvard Business Review published an article featuring Sanford Health, titled “Using Technology to Improve Rural Health Care,” and mentions their goal setting on 80% by 2018.  Among EMR platforms, Integrated depts., and telemedicine, they call out data transparency as a way to improve rural health care – including reaching 80% screening rate for colorectal cancer in 10 clinics.    Thank you to Angie Rolle and Durado Brooks for bringing this article to our attention.  You can visit the full article here. Congratulations to the team at Sanford Health!

Comparison of FIT and High Sensitivity Guaiac Tests for CRC Screening

A new study in the American Journal of Gastroenterology compared the performance characteristics of the HS-gFOBT Hemoccult II SENSA and two FITs (InSure FIT and OC FIT-CHEK) for detecting advanced colorectal neoplasia.  Visit this link to learn more.  Congratulations to NCCRT friends Jean Shapiro, TR Levin, Marion Nadel, David Lieberman, Ann Zauber, Djenaba Joseph and the other study authors!

Ask the Expert Article on the Trend of Increasing CRC Rates in Younger People

In the September issue of ASGE Connection, several of the top experts in CRC screening and prevention discuss the trend of increasing CRC rates in younger people.   NCCRT Members Mark Pochapin, Doug Rex and Anjee Davis are among the experts who provide comment.  Thank you to Gina Steiner of ASGE for sharing this article with us.

CDC’s Vital Signs Issue Focuses on the Association between Obesity and Cancer

CDC’s Vital Signs series focused last month on the association between overweight and obesity and at least 13 types of cancer, including colorectal cancer. Around 55% of cancers diagnosed in women and 24% of cancers diagnosed in men are overweight- and obesity-related cancers. About 2 in 3 occur in adults 50-74 years old.  The rate of non-overweight- and obesity-related cancer in the United States is going down, but increasing in overweight- and obesity-related cancers (except colorectal cancer). This Vital Signs details these facts and shows how everyone can work together to reduce cancer risk.

Participate in CMS Field Testing of Episode-Based Cost Measures Including for Colonoscopy by November 15

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is conducting a field test for eight episode-based cost measures before consideration of their potential use in the cost performance category of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) of the Quality Payment Program, including for colonsocopy. During the field test, clinicians may access confidential feedback reports with information about their performance on these new measures. All stakeholders are also invited to comment on the measures and supplemental documents.

The field test is a voluntary opportunity for stakeholders to comment on the measure specifications and the report template for the eight measures in their current stage of development. This feedback will be considered in refining the measures and for future measure development activities.  Please provide comments through this online survey by 11:59 PM ET on November 15, 2017.

You may refer to the fact sheet or FAQs document for additional information. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Save the Date for Tuesday, November 28th Webinar on Colorectal Cancer Screening in American Indian & Alaska Native Communities

Join us on Tuesday, November 28th at 2:00pm ET for an NCCRT webinar, in which we will explore CRC screening in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. This webinar will provide a brief overview of the NCCRT and ACS’s April 2016 summit on CRC and AI/AN communities and describe ACS’s recent grants to increase screening for AI/AN-serving primary care clinics. We will also hear from two AI/AN-serving organizations that are implementing innovative strategies to increase CRC screening in the communities they serve. Speakers will include: Laura Makaroff of ACS, Jessica Deaton of the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic, and Richard Mousseau of the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board. Save the date. Registration will be available soon.

The webinar is open to NCCRT members, 80% by 2018 partners, CDC grantees, ACS Health Systems and Communications staff, and new partners interested in getting engaged in colorectal cancer screening efforts. You must be registered to join the webinar.

Save the date for Thursday, November 30th Webinar on Employer Strategies to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening

Join us on Thursday, November 30th at 2:00pm ET for an ACS webinar on how employers can impact their employees’ health through colorectal cancer screening interventions. The webinar will begin with a brief introduction to steps employers can take to increase screening rates at their company and then feature three corporate partners who have implemented effective strategies. Speakers will include presenters from Ameren, AT&T, and Progressive Insurance. Advance registration is not required. Save the date and follow this link to join the webinar via Webex on November 30th.

The webinar is open to NCCRT members, 80% by 2018 partners, CDC grantees, ACS Health Systems and Communications staff, and new partners interested in getting engaged in colorectal cancer screening efforts.

Post-2018 “Listening Tour”

We want to hear from you!  As was previously announced, we want your input on what comes after 80% by 2018!  Please complete this brief survey to provide feedback on what you would like to see.

Share:

We Highlight Successes, Leaders, Best Practices, And Tools That Are Making An Impact In The Nationwide Movement To Reach 80% Screened For Colorectal Cancer.

Do you have a suggestion for a future blog topic? We welcome you to share your suggestions by emailing [email protected].

Blog Policy
Opinions expressed in these blog posts are that of the author and do not represent policies of the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable or the author’s institution.

Our staff moderate all comments on the 80% Blog. While we do not censor based on point of view, we will delete or edit comments that are offensive or off topic. Click here to view full version.