Research Shows ACS Return to Cancer Screening Efforts Were Highly Successful

A national return to cancer screening effort initiated and led by the ACS helped restore cancer screenings to pre-pandemic levels and contributed to a significant number of additional screening tests, according to new research published in JAMA Network Open. The researchers found that most cancer programs (79%) enrolled in the quality improvement (QI) project successfully restored screening rates to pre-pandemic volumes and achieved a minimum of 10% growth in screening.

In response to growing concerns about missed cancer screenings related to COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns, the ACS Cancer Programs, together with the American Cancer Society, launched a Return-to-Screening national QI project in early 2021 to help accredited programs estimate and reduce local cancer screening deficits. The article in JAMA Network Open reveals, for the first time, final data from the project, which included 786 Commission on Cancer (CoC) and National Accreditation Program of Breast Centers (NAPBC) accredited programs. It is estimated that CoC programs treat approximately 70% of recently diagnosed cancer patients in the US annually.

The collaboration marked the first time that the accredited programs came together under one unified quality improvement goal, noted corresponding author Heidi Nelson, MD, FACS, Medical Director of ACS Cancer Programs.

“When we first started enrolling accredited programs in this quality improvement project, we discovered that more than half of the participating sites still had not returned to pre-pandemic levels of monthly screening by early 2021,” she said. “We learned that by applying a unified quality improvement framework with toolkits, collaborative learning opportunities, and other resources, we could positively increase screening rates and reverse the trends we were seeing related to missed screenings. The same principles we used here can potentially be used as a model to address other gaps in cancer care.”