Now that we are well into the new year, I want to take a moment to remind all my patients about the importance of getting a mammogram every year. Statistics are showing that fewer women are getting mammograms each year and there are many reasons sited for this decline; anxiety about the results, discomfort sometimes felt during the exam, cost issues, or frankly not taking the time to go to the doctor. However, there are not many things more important for your health and well-being than taking the time to get your mammogram. Early detection provides the best opportunity for beating breast cancer.

We know that mammograms don't prevent breast cancer, but they can save lives by finding breast cancer as early as possible. It used to be that 50 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer died of their disease, but now less than 15 percent of women diagnosed die from it. 75% of cancer deaths are in unscreened women. 56% of unscreened women die from their breast cancer because the cancers are bigger and more advanced. 5% of women who get regular screenings die of their cancer, and if you exclude the two most aggressive cancers, less than 2% die. If diagnosed early, the majority of women will not need chemotherapy.

Another important screening tool that many of my patients are adding to their yearly breast health program is the SonoCine Whole Breast Ultrasound exam. This FDA approved exam doesn't take the place of a screening mammogram, but is an additional exam for women with dense or heterogeneously dense breast tissue. In women with dense breasts, mammograms are more difficult to interpret because it can be difficult to "see through" the dense tissue (white on the mammogram). Tumors are white as is dense tissue. This can make it more difficult to detect a tumor in dense breasts because it looks a lot like the dense tissue that surrounds it.

We have had many patients, who are candidates for SonoCine UltraSound, happily adding this screening tool to their yearly mammogram program for added peace of mind.

I would also like to mention that we have recently been asked questions about Medicare coverage and replacement plans by several of our patients. As you may know, Breastnet is contracted with traditional Medicare and we process all the paperwork directly with Medicare.

However, many of our Medicare patients also sign up with Medicare replacement plans, which can cause confusion because of the way they work. If you enroll in a Medicare replacement plan, the plan replaces your original Medicare as it is offered through a commercial insurance company and is outside of the "traditional Medicare" network. Since Breastnet does not contract with any insurance company other than traditional Medicare, we cannot accept replacement plans as they are outside of the Medicare program.

If your Medicare coverage does change from traditional Medicare, please be sure to let us know when you make your appointment so our Front Desk is aware of this change.

I am looking forward to seeing you when it is time for your mammogram.

Best regards,

Belinda Barclay-White, MD