MN Cancer Screening Quality Improvement (CSQI) Program - The Cancer Screening Quality Improvement (CSQI) Program at the Minnesota Department of Health supported by funding from the Changing Health Systems Using Evidence-based Interventions to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening cooperative agreement (CDC-RFA-DP-25-0012) will work in partnership with primary care clinics, health systems, support partners and communities to serve populations (ages 45-75) most impacted by colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality. While the rate of cancer deaths, including CRC, have substantially decreased since 1988, cancer remains the leading cause of death in the state. CRC is ranked as the fourth most common cancer in Minnesota (MN), 1 with an estimated 2,550 new diagnosed and around 830 deaths projected for 2025.2 High-risk populations identified by CSQI staff and partner clinics face even greater challenges, experiencing disproportionately higher rates of CRC incidence and mortality, primarily driven by screening rates significantly lower than state and national averages. CSQI will build on the extensive efforts made to improve CRC screening in MN over the past 15 years and the clinical partnerships created in the last five-year CRC funding cycle. We aim to increase clinic level CRC screening rates in partner clinics and health systems, expand the reach of CSQI by onboarding new clinics, and work towards sustainability of implemented evidence-based interventions (EBIs) and supporting activities. Our ultimate goal is to improve CRC screening rates by 6 percentage points, resulting in a net increase of 10% more individuals screened over the next five years. We will achieve this by implementing and evaluating the following strategies: • Establish and build on partnerships with primary care clinics and health systems in targeted geographic areas where there are low CRC screening rates. • Engage and expand our network of EBI partners to provide support and technical assistance to partner clinics in the areas of: EBI implementation, quality improvement, electronic health records optimization, and use of health information technology systems to enhance data collection and data management. • Improve access to screening by establishing new and strengthening existing agreements with clinics, health systems and other partners to ensure partner clinics and patients are provided with CRC screening tests and proper linkages for follow-up care for individuals with abnormal screening results. • Measure and report on outcomes to increase the rates of on-time CRC screening in high-risk populations. With a strong foundation for our program, MDH CSQI will work with clinics and partners to increase CRC screening, enabling early detection and removal of polyps and the diagnosis of CRC at earlier stages. With an expanded reach of 200,000 patients, and an increase in screening rate of 6%, we anticipate preventing 5,000 cancers and detecting 200 cancers at earlier stages over the five-year funding period (2025-2030). [1] MCRS 2024. Colorectal Cancer Dashboard. https://www.health.state.mn.us/data/mcrs/data/dashcrc.html [2] Siegel RL, Giaquinto AN, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2024. CA Cancer J Clin. 2024 Jan-Feb;74(1):12-49. doi: 10.3322/caac.21820. Epub 2024 Jan 17.
