Resource Author: NCCRT

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Webinar – What Do the Data Tell Us: What Can We Learn from the Latest Colorectal Cancer Screening Rate Trends Over Time? – November 3, 2021

This webinar provided a look at the latest data that informs how we are doing as a nation with our efforts to reach an 80% colorectal cancer screening rate. The webinar included a review of the key colorectal cancer screening data sets: BRFSS, NHIS, HEDIS, and UDS. Participants heard from experts as they gave an update on where we are progressing and where we still need to focus, to help inform your work ahead. 

Speakers:

  • Lisa Richardson, MD, MPH, Director, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NCCRT Steering Committee
  • Sepheen Byron, Assistant Vice President, Performance Measurement, National Committee for Quality Assurance
  • Neeraj Deshpande MBBS, MPH, MHA, Public Health Analyst, Quality Recognition and Health Promotion Team, Bureau of Primary Health Care/Office of Quality Improvement, DHHS/Health Resources and Services Administration
  • Stacey Fedewa, Senior Principal Scientist, Surveillance Research, American Cancer Society, Inc.

Note: Slides for three of the four presentations have been approved to share and can be downloaded through the button on this page. We will post the final deck and the replay to this page as soon as we receive approval to share all presentations.

Note: Data and data set measurement specifications were current as of November 3, 2021, but may become obsolete when changes are made in the future.

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NCCRT Learning Center

The NCCRT Learning Center is a digital learning platform which features courses, tools, and other resources on colorectal cancer screening delivery and research. Current educational offerings include:

  • The Colonoscopy Needs Calculator—This tool estimates the number of colonoscopies your practice can realistically anticipate with a high-quality stool-based colorectal cancer screening program based on various screening rate goals and other data inputs. It also provides an estimation of what the total colonoscopy need would cost a system as well as a comparison between the costs of treating cancer and costs of providing colonoscopies.
  • The Communications Education Portal—This course houses our suite of market research findings on the unscreened for colorectal cancer and messaging recommendations to more effectively develop communication campaigns and resources for unscreened populations. Learners can peruse the market research findings from start to finish or jump in to find just what you need to educate, empower, and mobilize those who are not getting screened for colorectal cancer.

We plan to populate the NCCRT Learning Center with additional tools and learning modules over time. Users can create an account to track your progress, learn when new content is released, and access more courses as they become available.

 

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2021 USPSTF Colorectal Cancer Screening Recommendation Lowers Screening Age from 50 to 45: Implications for NCCRT Partners – June 7, 2021

On May 18, 2021, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a final Recommendation, Evidence Summary, and Modeling Study on screening for colorectal cancer. The primary difference from the previous 2016 recommendation is that average risk adults are now recommended to start screening at age 45, in alignment with the American Cancer Society’s 2018 recommendation.

During this NCCRT webinar, a panel of expert speakers discussed:

  • What changed in the new recommendation? And what data informed the decision to lower the screening age to 45?
  • How does the new recommendation impact insurance coverage and what is the timeline?
  • When will the new guideline be reflected in colorectal cancer screening quality measures and national screening rate indicators?
  • What data do we have on screening in 45-49 year olds and what do we know about them?
  • The experiences of one state (Indiana) that began implementing screening at age 45 statewide following legislation to lower the screening age in 2019.

Speakers:

  • Heather Dacus, DO, MPH; Director, Bureau of Cancer Prevention and Control, NYS Department of Health; NCCRT Policy Action Strategic Priority Team Co-chair (Moderator)
  • Robert Smith, PHD; Senior Vice President, Cancer Screening; American Cancer Society; NCCRT Co-chair
  • Anna Schwamlein Howard; Principal, Policy Development, Access to and Quality of Care; American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
  • Sepheen Byron; Assistant Vice President of Performance Measurement, the National Committee for Quality Assurance 
  • Stacey Fedewa, PhD; Scientific Director, Screening and Risk Factors Surveillance; American Cancer Society
  • Bryan Hannon; Regional Government Relations Director; American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
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Colorectal Cancer Screening & COVID-19 Update: A look at the current landscape one year into the pandemic – April 15, 2021

During this webinar, we reconvened the authors of NCCRT’s Reigniting Colorectal Screening During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Playbook (released June 2020), which advised how NCCRT members, 80% pledged partners, and colorectal cancer screening advocates across the nation can work together to reengage our screening efforts appropriately, safely, and equally for all communities. The NCCRT hosted a previous discussion with the authors on July 23, 2020. This webinar brought the group back together to discuss what progress we’ve made and what challenges remain for colorectal cancer screening in 2021.

Panelists:

  • Durado Brooks, MD, MPH – Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Screening Business Unit, Exact Sciences
  • Rachel Issaka, MD, MAS — Assistant Professor, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center & the University of Washington
  • Steven Itzkowitz, MD, FACP, FACG, AGAF — Professor of Medicine and Oncological Sciences Director, Gastroenterology Fellowship Program Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; NCCRT Steering Committee Member
  • Laura Makaroff, DO – Senior Vice President, Prevention and Early Detection, American Cancer Society
  • Michael Sapienza – CEO, Colorectal Cancer Alliance
  • Richard Wender, MD — Chair, National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable; Chair, Family Medicine and Community Health University of Pennsylvania
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March 2021 Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Webcast

On March 16th, 2021, NCCRT hosted a webcast featuring Richard Wender, MD, and Robert Smith, PhD, NCCRT co-chairs; Lisa Richardson, MD, MPH, Director of CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control; Rebecca Siegel, MPH, Senior Scientific Director, Surveillance Research, American Cancer Society; Folasade May, MD, PhD, MPhil, UCLA Health, our 2021 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards grand prize honoree; and other special guests. The webcast also featured our 2021 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards winners.

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What Can Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalitions
Do to Advance 80% in Every Community?

 

Comprehensive cancer control (CCC) programs and coalitions play a critical role in promoting colorectal cancer screening messages and activities in community settings across the United States. From educating coalition members to raising public awareness about colorectal cancer screening options, CCC programs and coalitions can support the national 80% in Every Community campaign and help make increasing colorectal cancer screening rates a leading public health priority.

This brief contains useful information and resources that will accelerate efforts to improve screening rates in your state, tribal organization, or territory.

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Improving Colorectal cancer Screening: Promising Practices for State Medicaid Agencies

This report follows up on a 2015 report commissioned by the NCCRT, Colorectal Cancer Initiatives in Medicaid Agencies—A National Review. That report broadly described the activities being undertaken by Medicaid programs in all 50 states, identifying ten states that had adopted more robust approaches to colorectal cancer screening.

To develop a deeper understanding of how these higher-performing states are approaching the challenges of colorectal cancer screening, follow-up research was conducted with several of the states (Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New York, and Oregon) that had progressed further on their efforts. 

Thus, this guide establishes nine practices that have shown sufficient promise to merit consideration by other state Medicaid agencies who wish to enhance their screening efforts for this important population.

The 9 promising practices described within this guide include: 

  1. Define a CRC Metric for State Medicaid Plans
  2. Support or Mandate Public Reporting of CRC Screening Rates
  3. Develop an Incentive Program/Value-Based Purchasing Measure for CRC
  4. Provide Education and Technical Support to Managed Care Organizations and Providers
  5. Collaborate with State Public Health Staff
  6. Work Closely with FQHCs that Serve Large Medicaid Populations
  7. Promote Evidence-Based Strategies and Interventions
  8. Facilitate Access by Covering Multiple Tests Without Cost-Sharing
  9. Promote Test Options to Overcome Compliance Barriers, Provider Shortages, Geographic Issues, and Logistical Constraints
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Reigniting Colorectal Cancer Screening As Communities Face And Respond To The COVID-19 Pandemic – July 23, 2020

On July 23, the NCCRT hosted a discussion about our new report on colorectal cancer screening during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report, which released on June 30, provides an action-oriented playbook for how NCCRT members, 80% pledged partners, and colorectal cancer screening advocates across the nation can work together to reignite our screening efforts appropriately, safely, and equally for all communities. During this webinar, we heard from the report’s lead authors, an expert panel that shared four aligning statements as well as a summary of findings. 

Speakers:

  • Rachel Issaka, MD, MAS — Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Division of Gastroenterology, University of Washington School of Medicine.
  • Steven Itzkowitz, MD, FACP, FACG, AGAF — Professor of Medicine and Oncological Sciences Director, Gastroenterology Fellowship Program Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; NCCRT Steering Committee Member
  • Michael Sapienza – CEO, Colorectal Cancer Alliance
  • Ma Somsouk, MD, MAS, AGAF — Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations, SF Cancer Initiative
  • Richard Wender, MD — Chair, National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable; Department of Family and Community Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University

 

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Reigniting Colorectal Cancer Screening as Communities Face and Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Playbook

This resource provides an action-oriented playbook to be adopted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and aims to align NCCRT members, 80% pledged partners, and colorectal cancer screening advocates across the nation to work together to reignite our screening efforts appropriately, safely, and equally for all communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged efforts to address inadequate screening and inequities in colorectal cancer outcomes, hindering the progress toward our 80% in Every Community goals. In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading agencies, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the American Cancer Society, made recommendations to delay all non-urgent procedures. Colonoscopies to detect colorectal cancer have been delayed or cancelled and patient fears about contracting COVID-19 have led to further reductions in screening. This drop has raised concern that COVID-19 related screening delays will lead to missed and advanced stage colorectal cancer diagnoses and to excess deaths from colorectal cancer. Moreover, this burden will likely not be evenly distributed as screening disparities may be exacerbated in communities and populations that are disadvantaged by both old and new challenges in the COVID-19 era.

The colorectal cancer fighting community stands prepared and well-positioned to respond to and overcome the difficult task ahead, and this document offers the latest (as of June 2020) data, research, and clinical guidelines available related to colorectal cancer screening and COVID-19. 

Aligning Statements include: 

  1. Despite the challenges we face during the pandemic, colorectal cancer remains a public health priority, and we must provide the public with safe opportunities to prevent and detect colorectal polyps and cancer.
  2. Colonoscopy remains safe, is a good option for screening, and is quickly reopening around the country, but identifying patients who should receive higher priority for colonoscopic screening is a critical step.
  3. During a time when availability of elective screening colonoscopy may be limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, colorectal cancer screening can be safely offered through at-home stool-based tests.
  4. Gaining momentum and reigniting screening activities and public messaging will be highly dependent upon local regulatory requirements, public health priorities, and policy change.

Throughout the pandemic, individuals have options to screen for colorectal cancer. There are many safe, effective, and evidence-based screening tests available, including colonoscopy and non-colonoscopy options (e.g., stool-based tests, stool-DNA tests, and CT colonography). In addition to the information included in the Playbook specific to stool-based testing and colonoscopy, CT colonography also serves as an important option for patients. Learn more in an editorial published in Abdominal Radiology (July 2020), “CT Colonography’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic: a safe(r), socially distanced total colon examination.” 

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the following individuals and organizations. Thank you to our authors Durado Brooks, Rachel Issaka, Steven Itzkowitz, Michael Sapienza, Ma Somsouk, Richard Wender, Caleb Levell, and Emily Bell. We also extend a special note of gratitude to our committed partners, NCCRT Steering Committee members, and subject matter experts that have contributed to both reviewing and advising on this document, but also for their participation in ongoing discussions aimed at uniting and guiding the colorectal cancer community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. And finally, we recognize the efforts of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance to provide support, in-kind staff, and continued commitment in coordinating a national response to improving colorectal cancer screening rates during the COVID-19 era. 

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Summary Report on Links of Care Pilot to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening for Underserved Patients

The newly released report, Report on a Pilot Project to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates and Ensure Access to Specialty Care for Underserved Patients, provides an overview of the Links of Care pilot project (2015-2017), which implemented evidence-based strategies to increase screening rates and timely access to specialists after abnormal screenings in three Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Participating FQHCs successfully increased CRC screening rates by 8-28 percentage points, secured low- or no-cost colonoscopies from specialty care providers, and implemented patient navigation to ensure timely follow-up to diagnostic services. The report outlines key facilitators to success.

Congratulations to the evaluators and authors that contributed to this publication, Lesley Watson, Kara Riehman, Mary Doroshenk, Rentonia Williams, Vonda Evans, Lynn Basilio, Maryanne Goss, and Roshan Paudel, as well as the numerous individuals that contributed to the pilot projects’ success.

The NCCRT Resources Center also includes two webinars that feature findings from the Links of Care pilot projects, including a 2017 webinar and a 2015 webinar.