Lessons learned from the CDC's Colorectal Cancer Screening Demonstration Program

• Published in: Cancer 2013-08, Vol.119 (S15), p.2817-2819
• Main Authors: Seeff, Laura C., Rohan, Elizabeth A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: cancer screening programs; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.); colonoscopy; Colonoscopy - methods; colorectal cancer prevention; colorectal cancer screening; Colorectal Neoplasms - diagnosis; Colorectal Neoplasms - prevention & control; Early Detection of Cancer - methods; fecal occult blood testing; Humans; Occult Blood; United States
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/cncr.28165

This report briefly summarizes 13 articles in this dedicated supplement to Cancer documenting the full implementation and evaluation of CDC's Colorectal Cancer Screening Demonstration Program (CRCSDP). The supplement includes 3 articles that describe clinical and quality outcomes; 2 articles that describe programmatic and clinical costs; 3 that were based on a multiple case study, using qualitative methods to describe the overall implementation experience of this initiative; and 4 articles written by and about individual program sites. The comprehensive, multi‐methods evaluation conducted alongside the program produced many important lessons regarding the design, start‐up, and implementation of colorectal cancer screening in this high‐need population, and paved the way for the CDC to establish a larger, population‐based colorectal cancer control initiative, broadly aligned with expectations of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act through its population‐based emphasis on using a health systems approach to increase colorectal cancer screening. Cancer 2013;119(15 suppl):2817–9. © 2013 American Cancer Society. This introduction includes a brief overview of each article in this supplement and summarizes all components of the evaluation (ie, clinical, cost, and a qualitative case study) of the implementation period of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 4‐year Colorectal Cancer Screening Demonstration Program. The multimethod design and interdisciplinary nature of the program evaluation are highlighted.