Mammogram providers are now obligated to let patients know if their breasts are dense or not dense.
The Food and Drug Administration is requiring the providers to inform patients by letter so they can get additional screening if needed.
“Many states have already been doing that, but this is now a federal mandate, a national requirement, and it has to be done,” said Dr. Kathleen Robischon, vice president of medical affairs for clinical services at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.
Robischon said denser breast tissue makes it more difficult to read a mammogram and those patients may need to get a breast ultrasound or MRI.
During an appearance on WXXI's Connections with Evan Dawson, Rochester Regional Health radiologist Dr. Avice O’Connell said dense breasts are not uncommon but can be troublesome.
“Cancers can hide there and, unfortunately, there are more cancers in dense breasts than there are in fatty breasts,” O’Connell said. “It's a double whammy.”
This mandate comes right after the US Preventative Services Task force changed the recommended starting age for breast cancer screenings from 50 to 40.
O’Connell said about 10% of patients are called back for further screening after the initial mammogram. She said the procedure then becomes diagnostic and not preventative and is not fully covered by insurance.
O’Connell said a bill recently introduced in Congress, The Find it Early Act, would require health insurers to cover additional breast screenings at no cost to patients.
