The biggest reason that fast access to mammography is disappearing, according to Piccoli, is money. The Jefferson Breast Imaging Center now performs more than 30,000 mammograms a year and demand is growing. But for the hospital, said Piccoli, mammography doesn't pay. In the last two years, many mammography centers across the country have cut services. More than 200 have closed, citing financial difficulties caused by low reimbursement rates set by Medicare and HMOs.
Costs go beyond the mammogram itself.
Because Philadelphia has so many medical institutions, delays for appointments aren't as bad as other parts of the country. Carol Michener, supervisor of mammography at Fox Chase Cancer Center, said women can still get a mammogram at her hospital within three days of calling. Many women, she said, just don't like coming to a place with cancer in its name.