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Improving the time to diagnosis after an abnormal screening mammogram
I A Olivotto1, M J Borugian, L Kan
1Screening Mammography Program of British Columbia, Victoria, BC.
Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne De Sante Publique
|November 13, 2001
Summary
Community interventions significantly reduced diagnosis time after abnormal breast screening. Facilitated referral processes were most effective, improving timely breast cancer diagnosis with comparable or lower physician costs.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Public Health
- Oncology
Background:
- Delayed diagnosis after abnormal breast screening impacts patient outcomes.
- Evaluating community-specific interventions is crucial for improving healthcare efficiency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the effectiveness of community-specific interventions in reducing the time to diagnosis following an abnormal breast screening.
- To compare physician costs associated with different diagnostic pathways.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 1137 subjects in five community pilot projects and 1053 subjects in a control group.
- Analysis of breast-related interventions, including referral facilitation and biopsy types, after abnormal screening mammograms.
Main Results:
- Median time to diagnosis decreased from 23 to 7 days for women without biopsy (p=0.001).
- Median time to diagnosis for women with biopsy reduced from 57 to 22-43 days.
- Pilots utilizing core biopsy showed significantly lower median physician costs (p=0.02).
Conclusions:
- Process modifications can substantially shorten the time to diagnosis after abnormal breast screening.
- Facilitating the referral process demonstrated the most significant impact on reducing diagnostic delays.
- Intervention strategies can maintain or decrease healthcare costs while improving diagnostic timeliness.