MESSAGE FROM THE CEO ASCs and the Fight against Colorectal Cancer M
arch is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness month—a good time to talk about the causes and cures for this disease. Last year alone, the American Cancer Society projected that colorectal cancer would claim more than
51,600 American lives. When you consider that studies clearly indicate that early screening and detection can reduce colorectal cancer death rates significantly, you have a clear call to action that several recent initiatives address. In December 2010, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a health promotion and disease prevention program called “Healthy People 2020.” One of the objectives of the program is to achieve a 70.5 percent colorectal cancer screening rate in the US. If that target is met, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) projects that close to 1,000 additional colorectal cancer deaths will be prevented each year, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which was largely upheld by the Supreme Court last year, also helps to promote increased access to screening colonoscopies. In particular, the law eliminates all cost-sharing for colorectal cancer screening covered by Medicare and requires new health insurance plans to cover colorectal cancer screening without cost-sharing. The law also increases the number of people eligible for Medicaid to include all individuals who are below 133 percent of the poverty level in 2014. During the last session of Congress, US Representative Charlie Dent (R-PA) introduced legislation known as the “Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act of 2012.” The bill set out to correct one oversight in the “free” screening colonoscopy program: if a polyp is discovered and removed during the procedure, it is no longer defined as a “screening” colonoscopy and cost-sharing would apply. Representative Dent’s bill would eliminate cost-sharing when this situation occurs. Although the legislation expired at the end of the session, as this issue of ASC Focus magazine goes to press, Representative Dent has indicated an interest in re-addressing this issue in this session of Congress. Today, ASCs perform more than 40 percent of Medicare colonoscopies. They
have the capacity to do more. ASCA will continue to look for more opportunities to promote policies that help ASCs provide patients with this life-saving service and give patients more opportunities to take advantage of that care. In recognition of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness month and the ASC community’s efforts to increase the number of colonoscopy screenings performed in the US, this issue of ASC Focus features a couple of articles on colorectal cancer and colonoscopy. Turn to page 16 for an article on laxative-free colonoscopies and read Advocacy Spotlight on page 28 for more about ASCA’s efforts in promoting prevention of this disease.
This edition also includes a column on how best to manage hazardous chemical Seeking Authors
ASC Focus is seeking the contribution of articles by guest authors. If you have the expertise and time to write for us, we’d be interested in hearing from you. Please see our editorial guidelines at
www.ascassociation.org/ Focus and submit your story proposal to
smukerji@ascassociation.org.
6 ASC FOCUS MARCH 2013
waste in your ASC on page 8; an article about how to develop a compliant and valuable quality assessment and performance improvement (QAPI) program on page 12; and advice for keeping pain management procedures in your ASC on page 20. Please send your feedback on this issue of ASC Focus, and your ideas for future issues, to Sahely Mukerji at
smukerji@ascassociation.org. If you would like to contribute, you should also contact Sahely at that email address. We look forward to hearing from you.
Bill Prentice Chief Executive Officer
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