Decreased mammography utilization in the United States: why and how can we reverse the trend?

Recent studies have demonstrated that mammography utilization in the United States has decreased. The purpose of this article is to review some of the causes and possible interventions to reverse the trend of decreased mammography utilization.

Explanations for decreased mammography utilization include decreased availability of mammography sites, stress associated with mammography interpretation, the litigious environment of breast cancer diagnosis, and inappropriately low reimbursement. Possible approaches to rectifying these barriers are discussed.