Mammography Quality Improvement Tools and Materials 

NMMRA is working to improve the health of New Mexico's female Medicare beneficiaries by increasing attention on  screening mammography rates. Patient education materials are available to raise awareness about mammography and communicate the benefits of clinica and self-breast exams, especially among populations with increased risk for cancer incidence.

NMMRA partners with physician offices, health plans, medical groups, mammography centers, hospitals, and other stakeholders to improve rates for screening mammography.

Breast Health Educational Beads and Poster

Following extensive background work and examination of the systems for mammography, effective intervention and communication strategies, barriers and other factors, NMMRA designed the breast health educational beads and poster. The beads and poster are a variation of a successful intervention and are designed to hang in clinic exam rooms as a prompt to the health care professional and as an educational tool for the patients. In a very visual and tactile manner, the beads depict the value of early detection and the accompanying poster describes what each bead represents.

The beads and poster address several factors that encourage mammography screening:

• The importance of a physician or other health care practitioner's recommendation for mammography

• The importance of messages about the value of early detection of breast cancer

• The proven impact of the beads as used in other interventions

• The impact of messages delivered by women like the target population and/or who are breast cancer survivors

To view breast health educational beads and posters, click here. To order breast health educational beads and posters, click here.

Mammography Chart Abstraction Tool and Instructions 

NMMRA has developed and tested a chart abstraction tool and instructions for mammography that can be downloaded and printed for your use.

MedQIC Web Site 

The Medicare Quality Improvement Community (MedQIC) is a comprehensive Web-based resource of information on Medicare's national topics of focus. Funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), MedQIC helps health care professionals find and share resources that have been used successfully, steps to implement strategies, and numerous support materials to assist in transforming health care. MedQIC offers tools, articles and links to resources about how to address organizational culture, adopt health information technology, redesign care processes, and measure and report performance. Please visit MedQIC for additional tools and resources related to mammography.

For more information on NMMRA's projects in physician offices, contact Patricia Montoya, RN, MPA, NMMRA quality improvement manager, at (505) 998-9735.