The Personal and Financial Value of a Colorectal Cancer Screening Program in the Workplace
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One in 20 people in the US will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and 40% of those of screening age are not up-to-date on their colorectal screening. Colorado’s screening rate is about 67% with a goal of reaching 80% and about 70% of those not up-to-date with screening have health insurance. Employers are in a unique position to encourage employees to get screened. This presentation will cover why early detection is important to help keep healthcare costs down, recommended screening methods, evidence based messaging and interventions, and additional tools and resources that will help employers implement a screening program.
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The Personal and Financial Value of a Colorectal Cancer Screening Program in the Workplace
Editor's Notes
- Slide Notes: -The Colorado Cancer Coalition is a statewide network of individuals working to eliminate the burden of cancer. The Colorectal Cancer Task Force (CRC TF) is dedicated to decreasing the incidence and mortality from colorectal cancer in Colorado
- Slide Notes: -This presentation exists because a disease that is highly preventable, is also a disease that UNNECESSARILY takes the lives of your employees and costs your organization’s a lot of money. -Employers ultimately pay the healthcare bill. And we believe the one’s paying the bills are the ones who will have to take the lead if we want to see a change in outcomes. -For CRC, positive change comes from creating a cancer screening-friendly environment, which is highlighted throughout the presentation.
- Slide Notes: -The Colorectal Cancer Task Force (CRC TF) is one of 10 task forces within the Coalition that uses the Colorado Cancer Plan as a guide -The Cancer plan was developed by, in partnership, by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Coalition through funding from the CDCs National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program -CRC TF is dedicated to decreasing the incidence and mortality from colorectal cancer in Colorado -The CRC TF works on projects aimed at our mission. -Such as: End Cancer Text Message Campaign and Buddy Check 9 from 9News
- Slide Notes: -The reason our Task Force works on these projects is because CRC is the 2nd leading cause of cancer death and there are 17,099 CRC survivors living in Colorado. -Unlike some other cancers, CRC doesn’t discriminate. It effects men and women almost equally.
- Slide Notes: -And contrary to popular belief, CRC is not an old man’s disease
- Slide Notes: -In fact, of the CRC survivors living in Colorado, 30% of them are of the working age. -While CRC incidence for individuals over 50 has decreased since 2000, We plateaued in 2010. -At the same time, CRC incidence in under 50 years old individuals has doubled in the same time frame.
- Slide Notes: -For CRC, early detection is key -CRC has a 90% 5-year survival rate for cases diagnosed in early stage. Unfortunately, 60% of new CRC cases are diagnosed in later stage. -CRC generally doesn’t present symptoms until it is already in a later stage, which is why screening is the key to improved clinical outcomes.
- Slide Notes: -Improving clinical outcomes is only one part of the story. -As you can see, it pays to detect CRC in an early stage. -The average cost of an employee with CRC vs. other chronic conditions is generally one of the highest costing diseases for an employer
- Slide Notes: -CRC screening plays a huge role in improving clinical and financial outcomes of the disease. Unfortunately, of the screening eligible individuals with insurance in Colorado, 1 in are not up to date with screening. -For average risk individuals, it is recommended to begin screening at 50. The key word is begin screening, not begin talking about screening. -When an organization creates a cancer screening-friendly environment, more people are engaged and having conversations with their clinicians about cancer screening long before they turn 50.
- Slide Notes: -If you are over 50 and have not had a colonoscopy yet, there is good news. Colonoscopy is not the only screening option. -There are multiple screening options that can be completed at home. -It is important to talk with your clinician to determine which test is right for you.
- Slide Notes: -The important thing to remember is that you just need to pick the test that you will complete. -Multiple studies have shown that when you offer multiple screening options, more people follow through with screening. -And when more people get screened, your organization’s clinical outcomes and bottom line improve. -We would like to introduce an individual who can speak from personal experience how his own organization’s bottom line was impacted by CRC. -Scott Wilson is the Global VP of Corporate Affairs for Molson Coors, a Board Member for the Colorectal Cancer Alliance’s Early Onset Advisory Board and a stage IV CRC survivor.
- -Scott Wilson was diagnosed with Stage 4 CRC at 48 years old -Guaiac test false negative at age 46 -CRC is the number 1 killer for men under 50 years of age
- -Scott’s CRC treatment was expensive -He endured through a colon surgery, 40 weeks of chemo, liver surgery -The liver surgery alone cost $120K -He was lucky to have the “Colorado’s Dream Team” of physicians caring for him
- -His total cost of care from Sept 2016 to April 2018 was $1.25 million -Molson Coors has reinsurance to offset high claimants like Scott, but in the end, Molson Coors will stay see a raise in premiums due to high claimants -For Molson Coors, it pays to invest in prevention to keep employees like Scott healthy
- -The medical costs are only 1 side of it. -More organizations need to discuss the costs of cancer in the workplace
- -While Scott was still able to work during his treatment, he wasn’t 100% -A stale beer is still beer, but it clearly isn’t the best beer you can have -Even great organizations are negatively affected by an employee not working at 100% capacity -When an employee isn’t fully present, their team has to pick up the slack while still completing their own responsibilities -Scott was a best case scenario, as most CRC patients cannot work throughout their treatment
- -Even while Scott is in Remission, he still requires ongoing treatment that costs $8K a week -In a way, Molson Coors was lucky that a high level executive was diagnosed because his immediate peers are the ones who can make change. -Employers need to be deliberate in planning out their wellness programs to target improved cancer screening rates
- -Molson Coors is dedicated to improving their screening rates and has created urgency to around this goal -They are reshaping their Wellness program -They plan to increase the incentive around CRC Screening and lower the age for screening being a covered benefit
- Slide Notes: -There is no one intervention that is a silver bullet. It requires a multifaceted approach of Evidence Based Interventions to create a cancer screening friendly environment. -Getting screened for CRC only requires your employees to take one action. It doesn’t seem like motivating your employees to get screened is that difficult of a task when you compare it to other employee health and wellness interventions that require significant behavioral change stretched out over months and years.
- Slide Notes: -Start with interventions that are low hanging fruit -Have your organization take the 80% by 2018 pledge -By reaching an 80% screening rate in the US, 203,000 deaths will be avoided
- Slide Notes: -In 2016, Ameren took their first step towards creating a cancer screening-friendly environment by signing the 80 by 2018 pledge -They also joined their local CEO’s Against Cancer group -They engaged their insurance provider to uncover their current screening rate, which allowed them to create a “scoreboard” that tracked their progress towards the 80% goal. -They also worked with their insurance carrier to create and execute a communication plan around the importance of CRC Screening. The plan consisted of: --mailing letters to the homes of screening eligible employees --Allowing employees to enter a raffle if they pledged to get screened --And educating employees over email and their digital message board
- Slide Notes: -Outcomes and lessons learned: --Employees were more willing to open and pay attention to a mailed letter from the insurance carrier --Their efforts towards improving their screening rates led to a 14 point increase. --Their employees were more willing to complete screening when Ameren commits to covering 100% of screening costs
- Slides Notes: -In recent years, more employers have been embracing the “the best test is the test that gets done” strategy and have begun incorporating at-home FIT tests into their CRC screening strategy. -Progressive Insurance improved their screening rates by offering FIT tests through the mail. -All employees who completed the test were entered into a raffle.
- Slide Notes: -The Colorado Colorectal Cancer Task Force is an organization that Colorado employers can lean on for help with building a strategy aimed at improving CRC screening rates at their own organization. -The CRC TF will help you sort through the publicly available resources and templates to identify the interventions that are best suited for your organization.
- Slide Notes: -Employers can also leverage other projects and events that the CRC TF supports. Such as: --Light your building blue and wear blue on the first Friday in March during CRC Awareness Month --The Undy Run/Walk --The CRC TF has a free speaker’s bureau that is available to Colorado employers
- Slide Notes: -To recap, -CRC is unnecessarily deadly and expensive -CRC screening improves clinical and financial outcomes -The key to improving CRC screening rates is implementing evidence-based interventions that help create a cancer screening-friendly environment