Some doctors and hospitals have adopted new practices to encourage women in Arkansas to get breast cancer screenings. Dr. Ronda S. Henry-Tillman, a breast cancer surgeon at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, says fewer women are getting checked since Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued a directive on April 3 banning elective medical procedures amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"A woman that was scheduled for a standard yearly screening mammogram, or her first age-appropriate screening mammogram based on her history or age, or a follow-up screening mammogram—those were not done," Henry-Tillman said. "The early detection program that was shown to be so valuable was halted."
The ban was was lifted in late April as the state began a phased approach to reopening. Henry-Tillman says UAMS has adopted new policies in response to social distancing guidelines.
"Pre-COVID, you were scheduled for a mammogram and you may have 50 women sitting in a waiting room to be scheduled for a mammogram every 10-15 minutes. Because of social distancing, there's no women waiting in waiting rooms," Henry-Tillman said.
Patients are now asked to come to the screenings by themselves, and to wait for their appointments outside or in their cars. Despite these precautions, nearly 3,000 fewer women have gotten screened or diagnosed for breast cancer between March and September of this year compared to the same time period last year at UAMS. According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a screening mammography reduces breast cancer mortality in some age groups by up to 35%.
