Breast Cancer Screening Interpretation Model: An Opportunity for Optimization of Patient and Practice Outcomes.

Abstract

Identifying best practices in screening mammography interpretation is critical for maximizing early detection while minimizing false-positive results and patient anxiety. Factors impacting mammography outcomes are variable and include physician characteristics, patient characteristics, practice setting, and models of mammography interpretation [1]. The different screening mammography interpretation practice patterns include uninterrupted batch screening, which could be performed online or live (screening mammograms are interpreted in batches while patients are waiting with or without subsequent diagnostic examinations performed on the same day), or offline (screening mammograms are read after patients leave and recalled patients return on a separate diagnostic appointment), or interrupted (screening mammograms are read in between other breast imaging tasks, including diagnostic examinations or interventional procedures), which also could be live or offline [2].