Mammography in Motion

About Mammography in Motion

Mammography in Motion enables uninsured women who reside in the Hospital’s Primary Service Area (PSA) in Essex, Union, Bergen and Hudson counties to receive a free screening mammogram. Mammography in Motion program is a traveling clinic that is housed in a 40-ft customized van that includes a state of the art 3-D mammogram system and medical equipment. Screening days are scheduled with the assistance of community-based organizations located within the Hospital’s PSA. On each screening day, approximately 20 women are screened. Screening films are read/analyzed by University Hospital’s Cancer Center; when indicated, follow up tests and treatment for breast cancer that may include chemotherapy, surgery and/or radiation also is provided at no cost to the patient.

Impact

If not for Mammography in Motion, many women would not have been screened for breast cancer due to multiple barriers related to poverty, language, transportation costs, and uncertainty/lack of familiarity with how to receive access to medical care, including mammograms. The programs core purpose is to reduce the mortality rate from breast cancer in our community. Qualitative evaluations show that Mammography in Motion measurably reduced the number of breast cancers first diagnosed at a late stage when the cancer is difficult to treat. Within our first full operational year (12-months between CY 2024 and 2025) post-screening procedures performed as the result of screening mammogram (such as ultrasound, needle localization and stereo biopsy) exceeded numbers for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. We also saw an increase in the number of requests for Mammography in Motion screenings (locations are now booked 2 months in advance) indicating improved education on the value of screening mammograms, and collaterally, an increase in community awareness that University Hospital provides high quality and equitable health care for women, and for their families, irrespective of social conditions or ability to pay.

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