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.

 

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.

Users have the option to create an account to track your progress and update data over time.

My CT Colonography Center Locator Tool

The American College of Radiology (ACR) is now offering the My CT Colonography Center online locator, a patient-friendly online tool to find a computed tomography (CT) colonography screening center near you.

Bracco Diagnostics, Inc. originally developed the tool, which includes 120 centers – only a portion of the more than 700 estimated centers that perform CT Colonography (CTC). The ACR will now work with stakeholders to explore ways to achieve the goal of having all facilities that perform CTC registered on a center locator. To date, there are 220 centers registered for the locator tool.

The webpage also includes patient brochures on CTC, a video of a patient receiving a CTC, and more.

Evaluation: This tool was developed as a collaborative effort with Bracco Diagnostic and ACR CTC registry participants discussing a need to increase awareness of CTC screening option for patients.


Permissions:
 Made publicly available online by the American College of Radiology.


Publication date: 
September 2019


Post date: 
April 20, 2020


Contact:
Submit comments, questions, and suggestions info@acr.org.

HSRA Community Health Center Program Data

Each year, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funded Health Centers (HC) are required to report a core set of information that includes data on patient demographics, services provided, clinical indicators, utilization rates, costs, and revenues. Since 2012, colorectal cancer screening has been included as a clinical quality measure (CQM).

HRSA’s Health Center Data website allows users to explore the UDS colorectal cancer screening rate at the national, the state, and at the HC level. The UDS Mapper allows users to view UDS measures by zip code, create custom maps by adding graphics and text, and export maps. Free registration is required to use the UDS Mapper.

Evaluation: The specification for HRSA’s CQMs are aligned with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) electronic-specified clinical quality measures (e-CQMS) to ensure measure alignment across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HRSA is also modernizing the UDS reporting process to increase data standardization across national programs, reduce reporting burden, increase data quality, and expand data use to improve clinical care and operations. Rigorous reporting requirements ensure accurate reporting of quality data.

Permissions: Made publicly available online by the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Publication date: Published annually; latest data is for 2016

Post date: October 2, 2017

Contact: Send comments, questions, and suggestions via web form or call 877-974-2742.

500 Cities Project

The 500 Cities Project provides interactive, downloadable small-area estimates for 27 chronic disease risk factors, health outcomes, and clinical preventive service uses for city-level and census tract-level areas in the largest 500 cities in the United States, including colorectal cancer screening. These small-area estimates help cities and local health departments to better understand the burden and geographic distribution of health-related variables in their jurisdictions, and assist them in planning public health interventions.

Although limited data are available at the county and metropolitan levels, this project is the first-of-its kind to release data analysis information on a large scale for cities and for small areas within cities.

These high-quality, small-area epidemiologic data can be used both by individual cities and groups of cities as well as other stakeholders to help develop and implement effective and targeted prevention activities, identify emerging health problems, and establish and monitor key health objectives.

The 500 Cities project is a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the CDC Foundation.

Evaluation: Small-area estimates were developed using a rigorous, peer-reviewed and validated methodology. Learn more in the Methodology section of the website.

Permissions: Made publicly available online by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with content provided by the Division of Population Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Publication date: 2017

Post date: September 20, 2017

Contact: Submit comments, questions, and suggestions via web form.

United States Cancer Statistics: Data Visualizations

This resource provides interactive data visualizations of official federal statistics on cancer incidence and deaths that are produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Graphs show national and state cancer data by age and race/ethnicity; trends in cancer incidence and mortality by cancer type and state; and state rankings by types of cancer. The website also provides links to a variety of visualizations of other viewpoints on cancer.

Incidence data are compiled from cancer registries that meet the data quality criteria for all invasive cancer sites combined (covering approximately 100% of the U.S. population).

Evaluation: The website uses official federal statistics on cancer incidence and deaths that are produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Permissions: Made publicly available online by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Publication date: 2017

Post date: September 21, 2017

Contact: Submit comments, questions, and suggestions via web form.

State Cancer Profiles

The State Cancer Profiles website provides interactive graphics and maps to characterize the cancer burden across various geographic areas and demographic groups. It focuses on cancer sites for which there are evidence-based control interventions.

The target audiences are health planners, policy makers, and cancer information providers who need quick and easy access to descriptive cancer statistics to prioritize investments in cancer control.

The website brings together data that are collected from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute public health surveillance systems by using either their published reports or public use files. The data are the most recent data that have completed the national data synthesis and quality assurance processes. Many states provide websites with their individual state data, which may be more recent, or in more detail, than can be provided nationally.

The State Cancer Profiles website provides a variety of helpful resources including tutorials, descriptions, and quick reference guides for tables and graphs on the website, which include data on county-level cancer screening, incidence, and mortality rates.

Evaluation: The website brings together data that are collected from public health surveillance systems by using either their published reports or public use files.

Permissions: Made publicly available online by the US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, and the National Cancer Institute.

Publication date: Updated annually

Post date: September 21, 2017

Contact: Submit comments, questions, and suggestions via web form.

CHC manual

Note: The NCCRT released a 2022 update to the Steps Guide in September 2022. The 2014 version is available for historical reference only. View the 2022 Steps Guide

Steps for Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates: A Manual for Community Health Centers

The NCCRT released a 2022 update to the Steps Guide in September 2022. 

This manual provides step-by-step instructions to help community health centers implement processes that will reduce physician workload and increase colorectal cancer screening. Important topics, such as conducting baseline screening rates, assessing capacity and preparing your team are covered. The goal of this manual is to offer practical advice for implementing expert-endorsed recommendations one step at a time.

The manual is organized into three primary sections: 1) An Introduction that provides information on the importance of colorectal cancer screening; 2) Steps to Increase Cancer Screening Rates, which maps out a plan for improving your screening rates and gives step by step instructions for doing so; and 3) The Appendices, which provides field-tested tools, templates, and resources to get you started.

We suggest that you use the manual in segments, focusing on the three or four pages of information you need at a time, and make good use of the appendices, which have several templates, tools, and resources to save you time.

If you use the live links throughout the manual, you can get back to where you were by pressing “Alt+Left Arrow” on a PC or “Command+Left Arrow” on a Mac.

View the September 11, 2014 webinar introducing the new manual.

The manual serves as a supplement to the existing How to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates in Practice: A Primary Care Clinician’s Evidenced based Toolbox and Guide.