The process of receiving healthcare services can be complicated and confusing. Colorectal cancer screening often requires appointment confirmation, transportation, medication and, everyone’s favorite, bowel preparation.
Receiving assistance from a screening navigator relieves stress for the patient, saves time for the provider and reduces costs for the facility by eliminating “no shows” or canceled procedures. While an effective solution, finding the resources to pay for screening navigation staff can be difficult.
The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT) and the Colorado School of Public Health developed a new toolkit to address this concern: Paying for Colorectal Cancer Screening Patient Navigation Toolkit. The content was developed from published and public information about patient navigation as well as experiences and expertise of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, the Colorado School of Public Health, the NCCRT Patient Navigation Toolkit Advisory Committee and over 75 individuals and organizations.
This new toolkit when used with other resources, including the Steps for Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates: A Manual for Community Health Centers, can contribute to achieving the shared goal of 80 percent of adults aged 50 and older being regularly screened for colorectal cancer by 2018.
The Great Plains Quality Innovation Network provides technical assistance and support for organization interested in increasing colorectal cancer screening rates throughout our region. We recently hosted a WebEx, Quality in Colonoscopy. The presenter was Dale Bachwich, MD; Gastroenterologist at Rapid City Medical Center in South Dakota. Dr. Bachwich shared the rationale for screening and surveillance colonoscopy; limitations in colonoscopy and the importance of quality indicators; the Adenoma Detection Rate; as well as individual practitioner characteristics and systems features as they relate to high quality colonoscopy. Visit our Web site for the presentation materials and the recording.
For more information on our efforts, visit the cancer prevention initiative page and reach out to the appropriate local contact.