Community Care Partnership of Maine Awarded $80,000 to Support Colorectal Cancer Screening in Maine

BANGOR, MAINE — Community Care Partnership of Maine (CCPM) is delighted to announce it has received 2023 Cancer Screening Grant funding from the Maine Cancer Foundation. CCPM has been awarded two years of funding (July 1, 2023-June 30, 2025) for a total of $80,000 to support Colorectal Cancer Screening as part of our ongoing Pre-Visit Planning (PVP) work.

This funding will meaningfully support CCPM’s Pre-Visit Planning (PVP) process, which utilizes centralized Medical Assistants (MAs) to conduct comprehensive pre-visit plans for annual visits for adult patients, including those who are due or overdue for a colorectal cancer screening. The MAs review patient records to assess chronic disease management health indicators and due or overdue preventative screenings, including but not limited to colorectal cancer and social determinants of health (SDOH) screenings. Once completed, the PVP MAs distribute pre-visit plans to the local care team prior to patient visits. As part of this work, CCPM coordinates with our member organizations to ensure follow-up care (e.g., screenings ordered) by co-designing and implementing screening processes, workflows, provider-friendly templates, and two-way data and report processes.

“This project will focus on incorporating tracking of colorectal cancer screening into our current pre-visit planning process, increasing education and improving workflows to align with more recent age recommendations for screening, and connecting patients to resources to help reduce social determinants of health-related barriers to accessing screening”, said Kimberly Alexander, RN, CCPM’s Senior Director of Quality and Population Health.

This work will support CCPM’s ongoing efforts to increase earlier detection and treatment for those at risk of developing colorectal cancer. We are looking forward to carrying out this important work in collaboration with our member organizations.

Maine Cancer Foundation’s grant is offered as part of their ongoing efforts to reduce cancer incidence and mortality in Maine. They have invested over $15 million since 2015 in support of cancer prevention, early detection and screening, and access to care for all Mainers. To learn more about Maine Cancer Foundation, visit www.mainecancer.org, or contact Katelyn Michaud, katelyn@mainecancer.org, 207.773.2533.

Community Care Partnership of Maine (CCPM) is an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) with a mission to improve the collective health of our communities through the coordination of sustainable, innovative, and effective patient-centered care. CCPM consists of 15 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and 4 community hospitals that serve the most rural and socioeconomically disadvantaged regions in Maine. Member organizations share best practices to improve patient health outcomes and ensure continuity of care across the care delivery system.

CCPM’s members include:

• Bucksport Regional Health Center – Bucksport and Ellsworth
• Cary Medical Center – Caribou
• Community Clinical Services – Auburn, Lewiston, and Poland
• Eastport Health Care – Eastport, Machias and Calais
• Fish River Rural Health – Eagle Lake, Fort Kent, Frenchville, Madawaska, St. Agatha, and Van Buren
• Greater Portland Health – Portland, South Portland, and Westbrook
• Harrington Family Health Center – Harrington
• Health Access Network – Lincoln, Lee, Medway, Millinocket, and West Enfield
• Hometown Health Center – Newport and Dexter
• Katahdin Valley Health Center – Ashland, Brownville, Dover-Foxcroft, Houlton, Island Falls, Lincoln, Millinocket, and Patten
• Millinocket Regional Hospital – Millinocket
• Mount Desert Island Hospital – Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Southwest Harbor, and Trenton
• Nasson Health Care – Biddeford and Springvale
• Penobscot Community Health Care – Bangor, Brewer, Old Town, Belfast, Jackman, and Winterport
• Pines Health Services – Caribou, Presque Isle and Van Buren
• Sacopee Valley Health Center – Porter
• St Croix Regional Family Health Center – Calais and Princeton
• St. Joseph Healthcare – Bangor, Brewer, and Hampden