Reminder Program Dramatically Increases Mammography Rates, Kaiser Permanente Study...

Reminder Program Dramatically Increases Mammography Rates, Kaiser Permanente
Study Finds
Largest Study to Examine Electronic Health Records-assisted Mammogram Reminder
Program

PORTLAND, Ore., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- A reminder program aimed at screening
for breast cancer when it is most treatable boosted mammography rates by more
than 17 percentage points, according to a new study by Kaiser Permanente's
Center for Health Research in the August issue of the American Journal of
Preventive Medicine. The program used electronic health records to identify
women who would soon be due for a mammogram and reached out to them via
postcards, automated voice messages and personal phone calls.

The study of 35,000 Kaiser Permanente members is the largest to test a
reminder program involving this three-pronged approach. By the second year of
the program in 2008, mammography rates jumped from 63 to more than 80 percent
among women aged 50-69.

"We know mammograms are effective, but too many women put them off, even when
they have health insurance," said lead author Adrianne Feldstein, MD, MS, an
investigator at Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research in Portland,
Ore., and a practicing physician. "This study is the first to show that these
reminder programs can be effective in such a large group of women. If we
could improve the country's mammography rate by the same amount, we could
detect as many as 25,000 additional cases of breast cancer each year."

"Our study shows that a reminder program can spark a big improvement in a
short amount of time," said study co-author Nancy Perrin, Ph.D., senior
investigator at Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research in Portland,
Ore. "Automated reminder programs make it more convenient for people to focus
on staying healthy by getting the screenings they need."

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, with
one in eight developing breast cancer and 46,000 dying from it annually.
Although regular mammograms can reduce breast cancer deaths by more than 30
percent and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screenings
every 1-2 years for women over age 40, current screening rates fall short of
these guidelines.

The study is part of Kaiser Permanente's ongoing effort to encourage
preventive health through diligent cancer screenings. Nationwide, Kaiser
Permanente has an array of services designed to ensure screening for breast
cancer, ranging from mobile screening vans, breast health fairs, to built-in
prompts in its electronic health records system, KP HealthConnect(TM) - the
world's largest civilian electronic health record.

Funded by the National Cancer Institute, this study involved employees using
Kaiser Permanente's robust electronic health records database to identify
women (aged 50-69) who hadn't had a mammogram for 20 months. Starting in
January 2006, these women were sent a postcard telling them that they soon
would be due for another mammogram. If they didn't make an appointment within
a month, they received their first automated reminder call. A month later,
they received a second automated call, and one month after that, if they still
had not made an appointment, they received a call from a clerk in the
radiology department. Within 10 months of their first reminder, more than 75
percent of these women had completed their mammograms - compared to only 63.4
percent before the program started. After the second year of the reminder
program, 80.6 percent of women had completed their mammograms.

While previous trials have examined the effectiveness of mammogram reminder
programs, few have addressed implementation and maintenance of these programs.
This trial is noteworthy because of its size - most previous trials involved
fewer than 1,000 women - and because it incorporated automated calls; most of
the previous research had focused only on mail and live telephone counseling
reminders.

The study was not a randomized controlled trial, and women in the comparison
groups were not the same age as those in the target group. However, screening
rates in the comparison groups did not improve, which leads the authors to
believe that improvements in the target group were indeed a result of the
reminder program.

Study authors include: Adrianne Feldstein, MD, MS; Nancy Perrin, Ph.D.; A.
Gabriela Rosales, MS; Jennifer Schneider, MPH; and Mary M. Rix, RN, all with
the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore.; Stephanie
Schoap, MBA, and Kara Keels of Kaiser Permanente Northwest in Portland, Ore.;
and Russell E. Glasgow, Ph.D., of the Institute for Health Research, Kaiser
Permanente, Penrose, Colo.

About the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research
Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research, founded in 1964, is a
nonprofit research institution dedicated to advancing knowledge to improve
health. It has research sites in Portland, Ore., Honolulu, Hawaii and Atlanta.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We
are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and
not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide
high-quality, affordable health care services to improve the health of our
members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members
in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is
focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians,
specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are
empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for
health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and
world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care
innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community
health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.

(http://www.kpchr.org)

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente

Emily Schwartz of GolinHarris, +1-415-274-7926, ESchwartz@GolinHarris.com, for
Kaiser Permanente, or Danielle Cass of Kaiser Permanente, +1-510-267-5354,
danielle.x.cass@kp.org