Colon Cancer: Resources and Links Tools And Strategies to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates A Practical Guide For Health Insurance Plans
Colorectal cancer is a preventable disease and is almost always curable when detected early. However, because of low screening rates, it is usually not diagnosed at the earliest, most treatable stage. Consequently, it remains the leading cause of cancer death among nonsmoking Americans.
Improving colorectal screening rates will require a large-scale effort, and health insurance plans can play a key role. Over the past decade, health plans have facilitated improvements in many areas of preventive care, including breast and cervical cancer screening and immunizations. It is our hope that health plans will now leverage their vast knowledge and experience to also improve screening for colorectal cancer.
To assist health insurance plans in their efforts, the American Cancer Society and Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention have developed this comprehensive resource guide. It will help plans to:
Develop a rationale for engaging in colorectal screening
Understand the recommended screening tests, including their advantages and limitations;
Assess barriers to colorectal screening within their member and provider populations;
Implement intervention strategies to increase colorectal screening rates; and
Measure and track colorectal screening rates.
The resource guide can be viewed and/or downloaded in several ways:
