Does telephone contact with a physicians office staff improve mammogram screening rates?
GROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Mammography is an important screening tool for the early detection of breast cancer. However, mammogram screening rates are low, despite interventions to improve them. We investigated two methods to improve mammogram screening and compared mammogram rates among women who received these interventions to mammogram screening rates in a control group. We also investigated the costs involved in these interventions. METHODS: We studied mammogram screening rates of three randomized groups of women ages 50 and older from the Deighton Family Practice Center in Southfield, Mich. All women had had a mammogram 1 year previously and were due for another mammogram. Our control group (n = 110) received no intervention. The second group of women (n = 102) received a reminder letter from the radiology department. The third group (n = 86) received a reminder letter followed by a phone call from the physician’s office staff if no mammogram had been obtained within 8 weeks after the
