FAQ

The Colonoscopy Needs Calculator is a tool for medical professionals and administrators to estimate the number of colonoscopies your healthcare system or practice may require, based on your age-appropriate patient population.

The Colonoscopy Needs Calculator was originally developed for community health centers/Federally Qualified Health Centers (CHCs/FQHCs) to estimate the number of colonoscopies needed for uninsured and underinsured patients that are in need of a colonoscopy either because they received an abnormal result on a stool-based test or because they are at increase risk for colorectal cancer. However, the tool can be used by any medical practice or program that provides screening for colorectal cancer, including primary care practices, hospitals and health systems, health plans, and others who wish to understand how many colonoscopies they can reasonably anticipate, for budgetary, philanthropic, or other reasons.

You do not have to register and create an account to use the calculator, but doing so will allow you to save your work and return to the site to make adjustments over time.

If you register and create an account your information will be stored for your use, but the ACS NCCRT does not collect, use, or have access to this information.

Only the questions with an asterisk are required. Other questions are optional, but the more inputs you can provide the more accurate your results will be. You can register and create an account to save your work and return at another time.

The Colonoscopy Needs Calculator was originally developed by staff that support CHCs/FQHCs in the American Cancer Society Florida office. The tool has been updated and revised over multiple iterations thanks to the feedback shared by CHCs/FQHCs, gastroenterologists, and other stakeholders.

The Colonoscopy Needs Calculator is based on the most currently available evidence from scientific sources, which are routinely reviewed and updated. View Sources.

The site is hosted and maintained by the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (ACS NCCRT), established by the American Cancer Society and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1997. The ACS NCCRT is a national coalition of more than 150 membership organizations, including public organizations, private organizations, voluntary organizations, and invited individuals, dedicated to reducing the incidence of and mortality from colorectal cancer in the U.S., through coordinated leadership, strategic planning, and advocacy. Learn more at www.nccrt.org.

Visit the ACS NCCRT Resource Center to find resources and tools to increase quality colorectal cancer screening in a range of settings, including CHCs/FQHCs, primary care practices, gastroenterology practices, hospitals and health systems, health plans, and others. If you are not already connected with an American Cancer Society staff partner in your area, you can contact your local American Cancer Society office or call 800.227.2345 to ask if local staff are available to consult on your colorectal cancer screening efforts.

Email nccrt@cancer.org for more information.

The communications education portal is a learning management platform that houses research, resources, and effective messaging to aid in the promotion of colorectal cancer screening efforts across the nation.

Any organization hoping to promote colorectal cancer screening to public audiences will find this information valuable to their marketing efforts. The recommendations from all of these guidebooks have been used by ACS NCCRT members and campaign partners through various media outlets and delivery channels, including in press releases, radio spots, employee wellness programs, and in health facilities across the country. Successful case studies will be added to the learning portal soon.

You do not have to register and create an account to use the calculator, but doing so will allow you to save your work and return to the site to make adjustments over time.

If you register and create an account your information will be stored for your use, but the ACS NCCRT does not collect, use, or have access to this information.

In 2014, at the beginning of the 80% by 2018 campaign, the ACS NCCRT Public Awareness and Social Media Strategic Priority Team invested in market research to better understand the rationale and behaviors of screened individuals compared to the unscreened. This research ultimately produced the 80% by 2018 Communications Guidebook, which proved pivotal for informing campaign strategies and remained popular with ACS NCCRT members and pledged partners throughout the duration of the campaign.

In 2019, with the launch of the 80% in Every Community campaign, the ACS NCCRT updated this market research, diving further into the concerns and barriers for unscreened populations and providing more focus on communities and populations that have consistently lower colorectal cancer screening rates.

Specific goals included:

• Measuring the general awareness of colorectal cancer screening options;
• Understanding the rationale, attitudes, and motivations for being screened or not;
• Analyzing priority populations such as adults aged 50-54 and the marketplace insured;
• Identifying logical and emotional drivers that could encourage screening; and,
• Using the drivers to create and test messages that would motivate unscreened individuals.

The market research was conducted in 2018 in three phases of work: 1) Market research; 2) In-depth interviews; 3) Message testing. Phase one consisted of a 15-minute unbranded, online survey of both screened and unscreened individuals. Phase two dove deeper into understanding unscreened populations via a 45-minute in-depth telephone interview. And phase three included a 15-minute unbranded, online survey testing the effectiveness of 13 distinct colorectal cancer screening messages.

The ACS NCCRT released the 80% in Every Community Messaging Guidebook: Recommended Messaging for the Unscreened in July 2019, as a follow-up and to the final campaign iteration of the 2017 80% by 2018 Communications Guidebook.

Additional companion guides have been produced, including the Hispanics/Latinos and Colorectal Cancer Companion Guide and Asian Americans and Colorectal Cancer Companion Guide.