March 2023 Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Webcast

On March 23, 2023, the NCCRT convened over 350 participants at its eighth annual Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Webcast to celebrate national achievements and to share the latest state of the field updates. Participants heard from Steven Itzkowitz, MD and Robert Smith, PhD, NCCRT co-chairs; Lisa Richardson, MD, MPH, Director, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Rebecca Siegel, Senior Scientific Director, Surveillance Research, American Cancer Society; and other special guests. The webcast also featured our 2023 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards winners.

Following are several relevant links referenced in the webcast:

Field Strategies To Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening And Promote Colorectal Cancer Health Equity In Communities Across The US – January 24, 2023

This webinar was a repeat of one of our most highly rated concurrent sessions from the NCCRT 2022 Annual Meeting. The purpose of the webinar was to offer fresh ideas and strategies by learning from three community-facing health systems that are utilizing various tools to establish, implement, and advance colorectal cancer screening interventions that are tailored for the populations they serve. 

Speakers:

  • Moderator: Annie Thibault, Director, Colorectal Cancer Prevention Network
  • Tiffany Taylor, MBA, FACHE, Ambulatory Administrative Director, Department of Family Medicine, Charleston Area Medical Center
  • Einas Batarseh, MD, MPH, Chief Resident Internal Medicine/Preventive Medicine – PGY 4, University at Buffalo, the State University of New York
  • Koosh Desai, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, Curriculum Director, SWGA Campus, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University

Webinar – 2022 NCCRT Steps Guide Update – July 25, 2022

This webinar provided an introduction to the 2022 Steps for Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates: A Manual for Primary Care Practices, an updated second edition to the first edition that was originally published in 2014. The 2022 edition includes the following updates:

  • An expanded scope to include all primary care settings
  • Current screening guidelines and new screening modalities
  • 10 case studies of exemplary practice sites
  • 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.  The 2022 edition will be released in August 2022. 

Speakers:

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

Webinar – 2022 Messaging Guidebook for Black & African American People: Messages to Motivate for Colorectal Cancer Screening – June 21, 2022

This webinar provided an introduction to the 2022 NCCRT Messaging Guidebook for Black & African American People: Messages to Motivate for Colorectal Cancer Screening

Speakers:

  • Kaitlin Sylvester, MPA, Director, NCCRT – Programs & Partnerships
  • Folasade (Fola) P. May, MD, PhD, MPhil, Director of Gastroenterology Quality, UCLA Health
  • Michelle Aubertine, MBA, Project Consultant, KS&R
  • Adjoa Anyane-Yeboa, MD, MPH, Gastroenterologist, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Attendees received an overview of the NCCRT market research findings, learned about identifying barriers to CRC screening, understanding preferred and trusted sources for receiving healthcare information, and learned which research-tested messages could help encourage unscreened Black and African American people to seek CRC screening.

 

NCCRT Blue Star Conversation- June 7, 2022

On June 7, 2022, the NCCRT’s Policy Action Strategic Priority Team hosted the latest Blue Star Conversation, a new interactive program for NCCRT members and CDC grantees. The latest session titled “Demystifying Colorectal Cancer Screening Quality Measures: A Conversation with NCQA’s Mary Barton,” featured an interview between co-chair of the Policy Action Team, Heather Dacus, DO, MPH and Mary Barton, MD, MPP, Vice President of Performance Measurement at the National Committee of Quality Assurance (NCQA)  where they discussed what it means to be a measure steward, reviewed recent changes to the HEDIS CRC screening measure and implementation timeline, and discussed the process for updating measures.

Visit NCCRT’s Events & Webinars page to find information about upcoming programs and events.

Key links:

 

NCCRT Blue Star Conversation- March 29, 2022

On March 29, 2022, the NCCRT’s Family History & Early-Age Onset CRC (EAOCRC) Strategic Priority Team hosted the NCCRT’s first Blue Star Conversation, a new interactive program for NCCRT members and CDC grantees. The inaugural conversation, What Proportion of Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer is Potentially Preventable Based on Family History and Genetics?, featured Heather Hampel, MS, LGC, of City of Hope National Medical Center and co-chair of the Strategic Priority Team, who presented findings from the recent publication, A High Percentage of Early-age Onset Colorectal Cancer is Potentially Preventable, published in Gastroenterology. This recording features the expert speaker presentation portion of the program followed by a brief recap of the discussion section (the participant breakout discussions have been omitted).  

Visit NCCRT’s Events & Webinars page to find information about upcoming programs and events. 

Following are key takeaways from the presentation: 

  • ACS guidelines could result in an earlier diagnosis for 41.3% of EAOCRC
  • Surveillance guidelines for patients with a First-Degree Relative (FDR) with CRC are more effective without an age requirement
  • Surveillance guidelines for hereditary CRC are more effective than those for FDR only
  • 4% (117/713) of EAOCRC is potentially preventable
  • 9-14% of EAOCRC patients have a FDR with CRC
  • 16% of EAOCRC patients have a mutation in a cancer susceptibility gene

Key takeaways from the breakout room discussions:

  • The importance of lead time messaging to target different age groups (20- 45 year old);
    • Social media strategies
    • Marketing tools
    • Educational materials
    • Sharing best practices
  • The importance of insurance coverage for earlier screening for patients with a family history of CRC
  • The possibility of family history of CRC becoming a reportable HEDIS measure
  • The need to increase genetic testing within rural areas
  • The development of blood-based testing as a screening mechanism for early-onset patients
  • How TeleVideo has bridged the accessibility for cancer genetic counseling

RELEVANT LINKS:

Below are relevant links referenced in the March 29th webinar:

March 2022 Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Webcast

On March 8th, 2022, the NCCRT convened over 300 attendees at its seventh annual Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Webcast to celebrate national achievements and to share the latest state of the field updates.

The webcast opened with an overview of the landscape of colorectal cancer screening in 2022, including information on ongoing impacts from COVID and recent policy successes. The program then featured the NCCRT’s six 80% in Every Community National Achievement Award honorees, who shared about their strategies and successes in reaching under-represented communities for colorectal cancer screening and breaking down barriers to screening at both the community and state policy level.

The webinar included leaders thought-leaders and policy experts, including:

  • Steven Itzkowitz, MD, Gastroenterologist and Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; NCCRT Chair
  • Robert Smith, PHD; Senior Vice President, Cancer Screening; American Cancer Society; NCCRT Co-chair
  • Lisa Richardson, MD, MPH, Director, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; NCCRT Steering Committee
  • Donald Moore, CEO, Pueblo Community Health Center, 2022 80% in Every Community National Achievement Award Grand Prize Recipient
  • Linda Thurman-Sanchez, RN, Clinical Programs Nursing Manager, Pueblo Community Health Center, 2022 80% in Every Community National Achievement Award Grand Prize Recipient
  • Keith Winfrey, MD, MPH, CMO, New Orleans East Louisiana Community Health Center; NCCRT Steering Committee; 2019 80% by 2018 National Achievement Award Grand Prize Recipient
  • Shivan Mehta, MD, MBA, Associate Chief Innovation Officer, Penn Medicine; Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 2022 80% in Every Community National Achievement Award Honoree
  • Joseph Ravenell, MD, Associate Professor in the Departments of Population Health and Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine
  • Mia Ackerman, Member, Rhode Island House of Representatives
  • Desiree Berenguer Carton, Director, Regional Integrated Marketing, American Cancer Society Northeast Region (Host)

Following are several relevant links referenced in the webcast:

 

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.

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

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