Same-day breast biopsy program reduces patient wait times by 73%
A same-day breast biopsy program reduced patient wait times for the service by 73%, according to new research.
Safety-net hospitals play a vital role in providing care to patients from historically underserved backgrounds, experts write in JACR. Prior studies have demonstrated disparities in breast cancer treatment often tied to race, insurance coverage and socioeconomic status.
“Varied strategies have been trialed to mitigate delays in breast cancer diagnosis along the breast cancer continuum,” lead author Nhat-Tuan Tran, MD, with the Department of Radiology at Denver Health, and colleagues advised. “One approach is focusing on same day care, which represents a viable option to reduce delays in treatment by combining breast imaging services into fewer clinical visits.”
A multidisciplinary team of breast radiologists, nurses, patient navigators, medical assistants and technologists worked to implement the program around May 2021. They devised a “simple algorithm” to offer patients the option of image-guided needle biopsies the same day of their diagnostic evaluation for abnormal imaging or symptomatic findings, with no additional staff needed to support the service. Full implementation, with all patients receiving this option, took place between 2022 and 2023. During this period, Denver Health made minor adjustments such as optimizing medical assistant administrative takes, improving room and procedure prep, and maximizing patient throughput.
Tran and colleagues retrospectively identified consecutive patients at the breast imaging clinic with abnormal exam results who required an ultrasound-guided biopsy. A total of 677 patients underwent the procedure during the study period, including 233 during the phase-in pilot period (May 2021—February 2022), 306 during the official implementation (March 2022–April 2023), and another 138 in the follow-up period afterward (May–December 2023). For all patients, the same-day biopsy program reduced the median time from recommendation to procedure from about 13 days down to 3.5. There was no statistically significant decrease in time from biopsy recommendation to initial surgical or oncologic appointment.
“Successful implementation of [same-day biopsy (SDB)] program in the safety net setting requires interdisciplinary commitment by the entire breast imaging team including but not limited to front desk staff, technologists, medical assistants, patient navigators, nurses, and/or radiologists,” the authors advised. “The most common barriers to SDB programs are scheduling conflicts and staffing. It is important to assess the readiness of a breast imaging facility when considering the ability to implement a SDB program, including necessary staffing and required flexibility when adding on patients. Critical to the design of a successful SDB program includes ensuring flexibility for radiologists to perform the procedure, limiting the need for technologists in the SDB workflow, and flexible appointment windows that do not interfere with scheduled patients. Nurse navigators can aid in coordination of care, prior to the procedure, helping to obtain consents, coordinating with other breast specialists, and supporting radiologists with follow-up discussions.”
Read much more, including potential study limitations, in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.