Importance of implementation economics for program planning-evaluation of CDC's colorectal cancer control program.

Importance of implementation economics for program planning— evaluation of CDC's colorectal cancer control program" (2016). Editorial Importance of implementation economics for program planning— evaluation of CDC's colorectal cancer control program Understanding the cost of initiating and operationalizing colorectal cancer (CRC) control programs is essential for planning successful implementation of evidence-based recommendations to reduce disparities in the use and quality of CRC cancer screening services. Currently, only about 58% of adults ages 50–75 years in the United States are up-to-date with CRC screening recommendations ; adults without health insurance have a much lower uptake of about 24% (Sabatino, White, Thompson, & Klabunde, 2015). Targeted interventions and programs, especially those focused on the uninsured and underinsured populations, are required to meet the population-wide target of 80% by 2018 set by The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT, n.d.). The Community Guide contains several evidence-based recommendations for screening promotion interventions but there are very few studies on the economics of screening program implementation (Baron et al., 2010; Sabatino et al., 2012). There is an urgent need to increase the number of 'implementation economics' studies to develop the evidence-base to guide funding decision making, design cost-effective programs and ensure optimal use of limited resources. We define 'implementation economics' as a sub-discipline within implementation science that focusses on economic evaluation related to cost (cost-of-illness analysis, program cost analysis), cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, cost-utility, budget impact, and cost minimization. For more than a decade, CDC has funded and provided technical support to a range of grantee programs to implement CRC screening and implementation economics has been a cornerstone of the evaluations of these programs. These programs provided colorectal cancer screening for low-income, underinsured, or uninsured men and women between the ages of funding to 22 states and 4 tribal organizations to implement CRC programs starting in 2009 and another 3 states were added to the program in 2010. Fig. 1 provides a map of the United States highlighting the CRCCP grantees. The CRCCP represents a new approach for disseminating evidence-based interventions and promoting their use while simultaneously ensuring free screening for a portion of the medically underserved population. The CRCCP grantees used about two thirds of their funds to implement the population based promotion activities (screening promotion) and the remaining third to deliver direct clinical screening services for low income uninsured individuals (screening provision). The grantees were encouraged to tailor the program to their individual settings within the broad …