title: Does telephone scheduling assistance increase mammography screening adherence?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The 2 objectives were: 1) describe the use of a patient navigation process utilized to promote adherence to mammography screening within a primary care practice, and 2) determine the result of the navigation process and estimate the time required to increase mammography screening with this approach in a commercially insured patient population enrolled in a health maintenance organization.
  
  
  METHODS
  An evaluation of a nonrandomized practice improvement intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women eligible for mammography (n = 298) who did not respond to 2 reminder letters were contacted via telephone by a navigator who offered scheduling assistance for mammography screening. The patient navigator scheduled appointments, documented the number of calls, and confirmed completed mammograms in the electronic health record, as well as estimated the time for calls and chart review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 188 participants reached by phone, 112 (59%) scheduled appointments using the patient navigator, 35 (19%) scheduled their own appointments independently prior to the call, and 41 (22%) declined. As a result of the telephone intervention, 78 of the 188 women reached (41%) received a mammogram; also, all 35 women who had independently scheduled a mammogram received one. Chart documentation confirmed that 113 (38%) of the cohort of 298 women completed a mammogram. The estimated time burden for the entire project was 55 hours and 33 minutes, including calling patients, scheduling appointments, and chart review.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A patient navigator can increase mammography adherence in a previously nonadherent population by making the screening appointment while the patient is on the phone.
authors.affiliation: Thomas Jefferson University, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Ste 301, 833 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19107. E-mail: colleen.payton@jefferson.edu.
authors.forename: Colleen A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Payton
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarfaty
authors.forename: Shirley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beckett
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hilbert
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D062526:Patient Navigation / Q000379:methods*; D017010:Reminder Systems; D013689:Telephone