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Improving Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates

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About the Toolkit for Improving Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates

This toolkit is in the process of being updated. Please check back soon for the latest version.

Colorectal cancer is both the nation’s second-leading cause of cancer mortality and one of its most preventable cancers. Screening tests can identify colorectal cancer early, when treatment is most effective.

Healthcare providers perform colorectal cancer screening at varying rates. For example, the percent of eligible patients who received colorectal cancer screening ranges from 64% to 83% among the provider organizations – health systems, medical groups, and clinics – that publicly report data to the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ). Collectively, the provider organizations in WCHQ’s membership represent over 65% of Wisconsin physicians and their patients.

WCHQ formed a Colorectal Cancer Screening Quality Improvement Steering Team – composed of clinical, quality, and operational leaders from healthcare provider organizations, as well as subject-matter experts from other key stakeholders – to assess the performance variation in colorectal cancer screening rates and to promote across-the-board improvement. The team took action:

  • Established a goal to improve colorectal cancer screening rates, and selected a metric to track progress using the data publicly reported to WCHQ. 
  • Recommended strategies to help achieve the improvement goal.  These strategies offer the combined advantages of being evidence-based and effective, without requiring provider organizations to purchase expensive new technology or hire additional staff. 
  • Compiled a variety of resources into a toolkit to support provider organizations in implementing the improvement strategies.

What does the toolkit contain?

The Toolkit for Improving Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates presents several evidence-based strategies that healthcare provider organizations can use to increase colorectal cancer screening among their patients.

The toolkit also provides a variety of resources – e.g., guidelines, EHR screenshots, processes, templates, web links – to support implementing the improvement strategies.   

Who should use the toolkit?

This toolkit is designed for administrators, clinicians, and staff within healthcare provider organizations who are seeking strategies and tools to improve colorectal cancer screening rates among their patients. 

The toolkit may also interest others – e.g., researchers, payers – involved with quality improvement activities related to colorectal cancer screening.    

Development of this toolkit

This toolkit was developed by WCHQ’s Colorectal Cancer Screening Quality Improvement Steering Team, representing clinical, quality, and operational leaders from healthcare provider organizations, as well as subject-matter experts from other key stakeholders.  Team members and their organizations are acknowledged within the toolkit.

Toolkit citation 

Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality. “Toolkit for Improving Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates.” Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality, UW Health Innovation Program; 2015. Available at: http://www.hipxchange.org/CRCScreening.

  • Colorectal Cancer Screening

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