Quality Matters: A Podcast by NCQA

Inside Health Care Episode #002: Mary Barton, MD, Breast Cancer Screening


Listen Later

Breast Cancer Awareness Month began in 1985 to promote mammography as the most effective weapon in the fight against breast cancer.

As a result of this awareness effort, more women are getting screened. But we still have a long way to go to ensure every woman gets a recommended mammogram at the right time.

How do we ensure screenings happen at the right time?

As we like to say, NCQA has a measure for that. Our HEDIS measure for Breast Cancer Screening tracks women 50-74 who had at least one mammogram in the past two years.

In our latest Inside Health Care podcast, our own Dr. Mary Barton explains why measuring breast cancer screenings is the key to improvement.

Want to track screening rates?

Take a look at the chart for the NCQA Breast Cancer Screening measure. After more than 30 years of breast cancer awareness, you’d think the results would be higher.

These facts from the National Breast Cancer Foundation are staggering:

  • One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime
  • Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women.
  • Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women.
  • Each year it is estimated that over 252,710 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,500 will die.
  • Although breast cancer in men is rare, an estimated 2,470 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer and approximately 460 will die each year.
  • On average, every 2 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer and 1 woman will die of breast cancer every 13 minutes.
  • Over 3.3 million breast cancer survivors are alive in the United States today.
  • These stats are no cause for celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They remind us how much farther we still have to go.

    https://blog.ncqa.org/wp-content/uploads/Inside-Healthcare-002.mp3

    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    Quality Matters: A Podcast by NCQABy NCQA

    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6
    • 4.6

    4.6

    35 ratings


    More shows like Quality Matters: A Podcast by NCQA

    View all
    Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

    Freakonomics Radio

    32,107 Listeners

    Planet Money by NPR

    Planet Money

    30,676 Listeners

    Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

    Hidden Brain

    43,730 Listeners

    The Daily by The New York Times

    The Daily

    112,802 Listeners

    Up First from NPR by NPR

    Up First from NPR

    56,532 Listeners

    What the Health? From KFF Health News by KFF Health News

    What the Health? From KFF Health News

    499 Listeners

    Core IM | Internal Medicine Podcast by Core IM Team

    Core IM | Internal Medicine Podcast

    1,156 Listeners

    Post Reports by The Washington Post

    Post Reports

    5,468 Listeners

    Becker’s Healthcare Podcast by Becker's Healthcare

    Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

    190 Listeners

    The Journal. by The Wall Street Journal & Spotify Studios

    The Journal.

    6,072 Listeners

    America Dissected by Incision Media LLC

    America Dissected

    4,487 Listeners

    Tradeoffs by Tradeoffs

    Tradeoffs

    395 Listeners

    The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

    The Ezra Klein Show

    16,097 Listeners

    Plain English with Derek Thompson by The Ringer

    Plain English with Derek Thompson

    2,286 Listeners

    The Economics of Everyday Things by Freakonomics Network & Zachary Crockett

    The Economics of Everyday Things

    1,674 Listeners