New Jersey Colorectal Cancer Screening Project - Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of death from cancer among men and women in the state of New Jersey, and it is estimated that in 2020, CRC will rise to the second leading cause of death from cancer (New Jersey State Cancer Registry, 2020; American Cancer Society, 2020). New Jersey is a densely populated state that is diverse in anthropological and geographical respect. Health disparities in access to care and quality of care are revealed when CRC incidence, mortality, and screening rates are stratified by gender, race/ethnicity, geography, and other variables. CRC screening effectively reduces the morbidity and mortality associated with the disease. Rates of CRC screening in FQHCs (43.6%) are significantly lower than the average rate of CRC screening in New Jersey (66.3%). FQHCs have the greatest access to uninsured, underinsured, and underserved populations, provide comprehensive services to an underserved area or population, and have an ongoing quality assurance program. The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) will implement multicomponent evidence-based interventions (EBIs) within multi-site FQHC health systems, with an expansion to all 23 by year 5, to increase and improve the quality of CRC screening and follow-up testing in underserved, disparate populations aged 40-75 years. Leveraging established funding and strategic partnerships, NJDOH aims to increase the percentage of CRC cases diagnosed at an early stage and decrease the rate of mortality in underserved, disparate populations by increasing CRC screening rates in FQHCs.
