Primary Care Providers Underutilize Breast Screening MRI for High-Risk Women

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Radiology
• Primary Care Medicine

Background:

• Supplemental MRI screening is underutilized for high-risk breast cancer patients.
• Primary care providers' roles in identifying high-risk individuals are crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess how primary care providers identify high-risk women for breast cancer.
• To evaluate the recommendation rates of screening breast MRI for high-risk women by primary care providers.

Main Methods:

• An electronic survey was distributed to OB/GYN, family, and internal medicine providers.
• The survey assessed risk assessment methods, familiarity with high-risk definitions, and MRI recommendation practices.

Main Results:

• Only 12% of surveyed providers recommended screening MRI for high-risk women.
• Most providers used qualitative risk assessment (97%) over quantitative risk calculators (29%).
• Fewer providers correctly defined high lifetime breast cancer risk (31%).

Conclusions:

• Primary care providers do not routinely recommend screening MRI for high-risk women.
• Enhanced risk assessment and reporting at mammography could improve MRI utilization.
• Radiologists can play a role in patient-centered care by improving MRI recommendations.