Screening mammography plays a critical role in reducing breast cancer mortality and also aids in diagnosing cancer at its earliest stages when treatment may be optimized. Recognizing that the best care is both evidence-based and patient-centric, Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, known as MAPMG, physicians and Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States staff have achieved a mammography process that is truly remarkable: One-hour results.
Currently, the breast cancer screening results pilot is in its early phases at the Kaiser Permanente Largo Medical Center in Maryland. There are plans to expand the pilot to other Kaiser Permanente medical centers in the region.
Employees at the Largo Medical Center are piloting a new service for members being screened for breast cancer. If members choose to wait at the medical center while their results are analyzed, they will receive the results of their mammogram screenings within an hour.
This remarkable level of access continues to build upon the high-quality health care MAPMG’s patients receive.
It is estimated that 246,660 new breast cancer cases will be diagnosed in 2016 in the United States, leading to the untimely death of over 40,000 people.
In addition to decreasing the time for potential ‘worry’, members who receive their screening results in an hour that have suspicious findings are immediately offered the opportunity to receive more targeted diagnostic recall imaging. This way, a member with a potential cancer diagnosis would know that they would need a biopsy on the same day of the initial screening, a service essentially unheard of anywhere else outside of Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States.
Combining this rapid service with the distinction of having the No. 1 rate nationwide for HEDIS Breast Cancer Screening at Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States and our unique multi-specialty breast cancer clinic for newly diagnosed patients, our systematic detection and treatment of breast cancer is world-class.
Breast cancer screening and diagnosis is a team effort. Beginning with the ordering provider and family member who encourages the patient to have a screening mammogram, to the front desk personnel who makes the patient feel at home when they check into Radiology, to the mammography technologist who demonstrates compassion and skills in performing the mammogram, to the radiologists who use their expertise to make a diagnosis and perform biopsies. Of course, the work does not stop here, it continues with the dedication of our Breast Health Team of nurses and staff who ensure the patients feel they are cared for and are at the very center of this team.
Patients are encouraged to receive their preventive health screenings regularly. Depending on your age, gender, family, and medical history, these may include breast, colorectal, and cervical cancer screenings, Hemoglobin A1c testing, and others. If you are unsure whether you are due a screening, Kaiser Permanente members should sign into kp.org and review their Personal Action Plan.
