Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Tips for Rescheduling Patients before January

Consistency matters when it comes to annual breast cancer screenings. You and your team know that. So do most of your patients. But life gets in the way sometimes, and annual appointments can get missed or canceled. When that happens, these patients can easily slip through the system.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which occurs during October, is always a good time to re-engage patients. Media coverage creates greater awareness about the importance of their annual screenings. The following tips can help your practice reschedule patients:

• Prompt Outreach: Contact the patient as soon as possible after the missed appointment, ideally within 24-48 hours.
• Multiple Communication Channels: Use a combination of phone calls, text messages, and email to reach the patient.
• Offer Flexibility: Provide a range of rescheduling options, including different dates and times.
• Streamlined Scheduling Process: Make it easy for patients to reschedule by offering online scheduling tools or direct access to a scheduling coordinator.
• Address Barriers: Inquire about the reasons for the missed appointment and offer assistance in overcoming any barriers, such as transportation or childcare issues. Highmark’s Community Support Platform is an excellent resource to share with patients, who may be struggling with social health needs. See the article in July Provider News about the positive impact this online tool is making.

Closing HEDIS^® Gaps

By reaching out to patients due for a screening and rescheduling them, your practice will be well-positioned to close any HEDIS^® gaps regarding the Breast Cancer Screening (BCS-E) measure. This health standard applies to individuals 50 to 74 years old who had at least one screening mammogram from Oct. 1, 2023, through Dec. 31, 2025.

All types of mammograms, including screening, diagnostic, film, digital, or digital breast tomosynthesis (3D screenings), count toward the measure; however, breast MRI’s, ultrasounds, or biopsies do not.

BCS-E codes include but are not limited to:

• Mammogram CPT: 77061, 77062, 77063, 77065, 77066, 77067
• Mastectomy ICD10 (history of): Z90.13
• CPT: 19180, 19200, 19220, 19240, 19303, 19304, 19305, 19306, 19307

HEDIS Resource

For more information on BCS-E, along with other measures, download Highmark’s HEDIS guide.

Log into Availity Essentials^®, select your state, go to Payer Spaces, choose Provider Resource Center (PRC) from the applications, and then navigate to HEDIS under Education & Resources on the PRC.