The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is in its seventh year of involvement in the national effort with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to improve the availability and quality of breast cancer screening for Massachusetts’s women. To date DPH has screened 58,810 uninsured or underinsured women through the Women’s Health Network (WHN) and maintains a comprehensive database on participants’ sociodemographic characteristics, screening status and risk factors. DPH also requires all licensed Massachusetts mammography facilities to report annually the number of screening mammograms provided to Massachusetts residents, stratified by city/town, zip code, and age group. This paper presents the challenges faced by WHN to address cancer disparities in the state. First, how can we make the best use of data systems that have been created but that cannot “talk” to each other? The Massachusetts mammography facility database and WHN database can not be linked. Yet both databases provide alternative methods for identifying populations underutilizing mammography. Second, how can mammography facilities be involved with DPH in the conduct of public health research? Such a team approach is needed despite the substantial commitment of time and energy to build partnerships. For the first time, DPH is working with mammography facilities to estimate population figures and self-reported race/ethnicity information to define areas of underutilizaton. Through analysis and evaluation of current data, WHN will be able to outreach to the priority populations most in need of services.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Utilization, Breast Cancer Screening
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.