ATLANTA, GA – Electronic linking of medical records between providers and health insurance payers can facilitate appropriate follow-up care for women whose mammograms show abnormal findings, according to a research team at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) led by Stephen B. Edge, MD, Department of Surgical Oncology. This research (abstract # 6000)* will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, June 2-6, in Atlanta, GA.

This study reports that claims data from insurers can accurately identify 95 percent of the patients who receive appropriate follow-up diagnostic management of abnormal mammograms. Failure of women to obtain appropriate follow-up care after abnormal mammograms may delay a cancer diagnosis and impact their survival outcomes.

Electronic medical records of 17,329 women with a single payer were scanned and analyzed. Among the 1,206 women eligible for follow-up care, 16 percent did not received the recommended biopsies or repeat diagnostic imaging. This is the same fraction reported in several other U.S. studies. A regional case management system is currently being tested to assist physicians in assuring women receive the appropriate follow-up care after an abnormal mammogram.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology is the world’s leading professional organization representing physicians of all oncology subspecialties who care for people with cancer. ASCO’s more than 20,000 members from the United States and abroad set the standard for patient care and lead the efforts to discover more effective cancer treatments, increase funding for clinical and translational research, and ultimately, improve cancer care for the estimated 10 million people diagnosed with cancer worldwide each year.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or e-mail askrpci@roswellpark.org.