Who gets repeat screening mammography: the role of the physician

To determine rates of, and explore physician factors associated with, repeat mammography, administrative data for 791 women aged 50 years and older were examined. Three-fourths of the women (73%) received repeat mammography (i.e., a second mammogram was obtained within six to 18 months of the first). Provider factors associated with higher repeat mammography rates were: being a woman, practicing in the women's health group rather than the general internal medicine service, and being a fellow or an attending physician (p-values < 0.01). Patients of women attendings/fellows had higher repeat mammography rates than did those of men attendings/fellows, men residents, and women residents. Characteristics (gender, level of training) of providers strongly influence their patients' screening behavior.