The effect of patient and provider reminders on mammography and Papanicolaou smear screening in a large health maintenance organization

Arch Intern Med. 1997 Aug;157(15):1658-64.

Abstract

Background: We evaluated the effectiveness of 2 reminder interventions to increase the use of screening mammograms and Papanicolaou (Pap) smears among female members of a large health maintenance organization.

Methods: Seven thousand seventy-seven female health maintenance organization members (aged 50-74 years with no prior mammogram in the previous 30 months or aged 20-64 years with no prior Pap smear in the previous 36 months) were randomized to receive one of the following: a letter inviting them to make an appointment for a mammogram or a Pap smear; in addition to the letter, a reminder manually placed in the patient's medical chart alerting providers of that member's need for screening; or their usual care.

Results: Compared with women who did not receive the reminder letter, women who did receive the letter were more likely to obtain mammograms (16.0% vs 25.5%, respectively; P < .001) or Pap smears (9.1% vs 19.5%, respectively; P < .001) in the 6 months following their entry into the study. Compared with women who received only the reminder letter, women who received a reminder letter and had a reminder placed in their medical chart were more likely to obtain mammograms (26.5% vs 30.9%, respectively; P = .02) and marginally more likely to receive Pap smears (19.5% vs 22.8%, respectively; P = .04).

Conclusions: We recommend the use of patient reminder letters as a first step in a mammography or Pap smear screening outreach program. Further research is needed to evaluate a cost-effective provider reminder system and additional outreach strategies directed to women who do not use health care services.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Comparative Study
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Correspondence as Topic*
  • Female
  • Health Maintenance Organizations / statistics & numerical data*
  • Health Services / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Mammography / statistics & numerical data*
  • Mass Screening / statistics & numerical data*
  • Middle Aged
  • Papanicolaou Test*
  • Population Surveillance
  • Vaginal Smears / statistics & numerical data*