Medicare beneficiaries who undergo mammography are much more likely to utilize other preventive health services such as cervical cancer screening or osteoporosis screening, according to a new study published by Radiology.
“There were two overarching ideas to this study,” lead author Stella Kang, MD, MSc, assistant professor of radiology and population health at the NYU School of Medicine in New York City, said in a prepared statement. “First, we wanted to examine the potential for a patient's experience with one screening to influence appointments with other preventive services. Second, we wanted to see how the potential harms from false-positive findings might influence preventive service use.”
Kang and colleagues examined data from more than 555,000 women enrolled in Medicare. More than 33 percent of those women underwent mammography from 2010 to 2014. Overall, women who underwent mammography screening, whether they had positive or negative results, were “significantly more likely” than women who did not undergo such screening to utilize Pap smear, bone mass measurement or influenza vaccine services.
In addition, the authors found, false-positive mammography results did not impact utilization of other prevent health services.
“It's encouraging that women for whom services are received through Medicare are not showing significant signs of any negative influence from mammography,” Kang said in the same statement. “If anything, the experience of breast cancer screening is potentially encouraging, as it appears to increase awareness of other preventive services.”
These findings suggest that once a patient is in the door for their mammogram, it gives healthcare providers an opportunity to educate them about other services, providing more value at no additional cost.
“Our theory is that when patients are counseled about mammography screening, this represents an opportunity for the physician to bring up other preventive services and the health benefits of these services for women in their age group,” Kang said in the statement. “So, a patient's interest in breast cancer services specifically could raise awareness in preventive services overall.”
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.