The effect of patient and physician reminders on use of screening mammography in a health maintenance organization. Results of a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Despite its demonstrated efficacy in reducing breast carcinoma mortality, screening mammography remains underutilized and its promotion in the primary care setting provides an important opportunity for intervention.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in two sites of a health maintenance organization (HMO) serving an urban, minority population to evaluate the impact of patient and physician reminders on site visitation and mammography use. Eligible women (n = 2368) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 intervention combinations (patient and physician reminders individually, together, or neither). The patient reminder letter invited mammography-due women to visit. The physician reminder was a notice placed in the medical record of mammography-due women. Logistic analysis and survival analysis were used to investigate the relationship of intervention status to visitation, time to a visit, and mammography use.

Results: The patient reminder intervention had no effect upon rates of study year visitation or mammography at either site. However, among HMO Site 2 enrollees with entitlement insurance, the median time to the next visit was reduced from 12 to 9 weeks in association with assignment to patient reminder intervention. The physician reminder intervention was also effective in increasing the rate of completed mammography at Site 2 among all assignees (36% vs. 22% for those with vs. those without physician reminders) and among assignees who visited (59% vs. 43%).

Conclusions: Patient reminder letters had limited impact on visitation in this setting. Physician reminders are more effective but sites vary in their responsiveness. Further improvement in mammography utilization will require a better understanding of the determinants of patient and physician behavior.