In a recent video interview, Amy K. Patel, MD, discussed the aftereffects of delayed breast cancer screening due to the COVID-19 pandemic, keys for improving outreach to underserved communities, legislative wins and challenges, and coalition building to educate and encourage women to resume regular breast cancer screening exams.
As we begin to emerge from the shadows of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that radiologists, particularly breast radiologists, are faced with significant challenges. On top of workload issues, they may be communicating a greater number of advanced breast cancer diagnoses due to pandemic-related screening delays.
However, as Amy K. Patel, MD, points out in a recent video interview with Diagnostic Imaging, there are also emerging opportunities to save lives.
Whether it is being an advocate in legislative efforts to improve breast exam coverage, doing more outreach to underserved populations and/or building local coalitions that provide resources and support to patients, these efforts can go a long way toward emphasizing and facilitating a return to regular breast cancer screening, according to Dr. Patel, the medical director of the Breast Care Center at Liberty Hospital in Liberty, Missouri, and an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine
For additional insights from Dr. Patel on breast imaging, watch the video below.
