Accelerating cancer screening - blue ridge medical center (brmc) will partner with the breast cancer center of the university of virginia's (UVA) cancer center, a national cancer institute (NCI)…

Accelerating cancer screening - blue ridge medical center (brmc) will partner with the breast cancer center of the university of virginia's (UVA) cancer center, a national cancer institute (NCI) designated cancer center to increase access to cancer screenings across rural central virginia. Brmcs' screening rates for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers are far below the healthy people 2018 data rates, especially among communities of color. Through the rural central virginia cancer screening initiative, brmc will conduct a three-pronged approach to increasing screening rates. First, they will conduct an outreach campaign targeted at women who are aged 40 and over to promote annual breast cancer screenings. Second, in partnership with UVA, brmc will implement a staff development program focused on improving the patient experience for those in need of screening and follow-up care for breast, cervical or colorectal cancers. Training will include "understanding cancer" an evidence-based program, as well as workshops on best practices and patient navigation. Third, brmc will expand its staff to include a program coordinator and patient care navigator whose job responsibilities are focused solely on increasing cancer screening rates among patients. Brmc is confident that this approach will increase the rate of people being screened for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers by 15% by the end of year two and create new workflows to continue to improve screening rates past the funding period.