by Annice Cody, President and CEO
For people with health insurance, colorectal cancer screening is an unpleasant “to do” item every 5 – 10 years. For those without insurance, screening and, if needed, access to diagnostic and treatment services may be aspirational, not something easily checked off a list.
Through public and private partnerships, the Primary Care Coalition (PCC) has stitched together a patchwork of services to improve access to colorectal screening, diagnostic and treatment services. Our approach leverages partnerships to make the most of committed resources and serve more patients, more effectively. Let’s look at how that works.
Rather than beginning with colonoscopies, which are expensive and invasive, Montgomery Cares patients are offered an initial screening with in-home stool tests. By reserving colonoscopies only for those whose at-home tests are positive, we can extend the Montgomery County Colorectal Cancer Screening Program colonoscopy budget. For patients who require diagnosis and/or treatment, the Montgomery Cares program uses the Project Access specialty care team — staffed by PCC — to apply for Maryland Cancer Fund grants, which provide up to $40,000 of care per patient. Working collaboratively with the County and the State helps Montgomery Cares and our public partners to make the most of limited resources and preserves Project Access treatment funds to serve the wide range of other specialty care needs in our patient population.
A recent private partnership with Exact Sciences — makers of Cologuard — helped PCC further leverage specialty care resources. The Cologuard tests are more sensitive in detecting cancer and precancerous polyps and need to be repeated only every three years. The company offers the tests at no cost, provides blanket eligibility for Montgomery Cares patients (instead of requiring separate applications for each one) and reminds patients about their screening schedule. This partnership reduces the cost of in-home screening, more accurately targets patients who need colonoscopies, and saves case management time for the Project Access team.
Cancer care is complex, and for uninsured patients, social and financial needs exacerbate the complexity. By thinking about the care continuum systemically, rather than as distinct modalities and providers, PCC generates a big win: in patient and health center time, screening, diagnostic and treatment dollars, and very likely in patient outcomes. Those are returns worth celebrating.
For people with health insurance, colorectal cancer screening is an unpleasant “to do” item every 5 – 10 years. For those without insurance, screening and, if needed, access to diagnostic and treatment services may be aspirational, not something easily checked off a list.
Through public and private partnerships, the Primary Care Coalition (PCC) has stitched together a patchwork of services to improve access to colorectal screening, diagnostic and treatment services. Our approach leverages partnerships to make the most of committed resources and serve more patients, more effectively. Let’s look at how that works.
Rather than beginning with colonoscopies, which are expensive and invasive, Montgomery Cares patients are offered an initial screening with in-home stool tests. By reserving colonoscopies only for those whose at-home tests are positive, we can extend the Montgomery County Colorectal Cancer Screening Program colonoscopy budget. For patients who require diagnosis and/or treatment, the Montgomery Cares program uses the Project Access specialty care team — staffed by PCC — to apply for Maryland Cancer Fund grants, which provide up to $40,000 of care per patient. Working collaboratively with the County and the State helps Montgomery Cares and our public partners to make the most of limited resources and preserves Project Access treatment funds to serve the wide range of other specialty care needs in our patient population.
A recent private partnership with Exact Sciences — makers of Cologuard — helped PCC further leverage specialty care resources. The Cologuard tests are more sensitive in detecting cancer and precancerous polyps and need to be repeated only every three years. The company offers the tests at no cost, provides blanket eligibility for Montgomery Cares patients (instead of requiring separate applications for each one) and reminds patients about their screening schedule. This partnership reduces the cost of in-home screening, more accurately targets patients who need colonoscopies, and saves case management time for the Project Access team.
Cancer care is complex, and for uninsured patients, social and financial needs exacerbate the complexity. By thinking about the care continuum systemically, rather than as distinct modalities and providers, PCC generates a big win: in patient and health center time, screening, diagnostic and treatment dollars, and very likely in patient outcomes. Those are returns worth celebrating.
This article has not been reviewed or approved by the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.
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