Older women reminded to get mammography "You have breast
cancer." That's a statement about one in eight women will hear
at some point in her lifetime. Most people, even older women,
are surprised to learn that a woman's risk for breast cancer
continues to increase as she gets older. An 80-year-old woman
has a risk of breast cancer that is 20 times higher than a
40-year-old woman. Although mammography is the best method
available to detect breast cancer early, it is underutilized by
older women. Summary results of various studies indicate that
only 30 percent to 60 percent of women over age 50 undergo
annual or biennial mammography. The Health Care Financing
Administration (HCFA), the federal agency that administers the
Medicare program, has charged all Medicare Peer Review
Organizations (PROs) with the responsibility of implementing
health care quality improvement projects designed to increase
the use of mammography among older women. For a number of years,
PROs have been working with health care providers to