Mammography Screening
The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute Model of Health
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About
Percentage of female Medicare enrollees ages 65-74 who received an annual mammography screening. The 2025 Annual Data Release used data from 2022 for this measure.
Evidence suggests that mammography screening reduces breast cancer mortality, especially among older women.1 Women starting at age 40 are recommended to get mammography screening.2 Barriers to mammography include life dissatisfaction, social isolation, job loss, insecurity around food and housing, lack of reliable transportation, and the cost of accessing health care.3 Black women face a 40% higher breast cancer mortality rate than White women and often develop aggressive cancers at young ages. Starting screening at 40, along with equitable follow-up and treatment, is essential to addressing this disparity.2
The University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute Model of Health
Use the model to explore the measures of how long and how well we live and what shapes these trends. Select a measure in the diagram or browse the list of all measures.
Measures marked with an asterisk (*) are not included in summary calculations for Population Health and Well-being or Community Conditions.
Data and methods
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Data Source
Mapping Medicare Disparities Tool
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health's Mapping Medicare Disparities (MMD) Tool contains health outcome measures for all states and counties for disease prevalence, costs, hospitalization for 55 specific chronic conditions, emergency department utilization, readmissions rates, mortality, preventable hospitalizations, and preventive services.
Website to download data
For more detailed methodological information
Key Measure Methods
Mammography Screening is a percentage
Mammography Screening is the percentage of female fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare enrollees, ages 65-74, who received an annual mammogram.
The method for calculating Mammography Screening has changed
With the 2019 Annual Data Release, the source for this measure switched from Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care to Mapping Medicare Disparities. The current data source includes mammography screening for women between the ages of 65 and 74; the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care data only included women ages 67 to 69.
Measure limitations
Mammography Screening includes women ages 65-74 on Medicare; however, by using data on only this subset of women, this measure may potentially miss trends and disparities among younger age groups or women not on Medicare.
This measure captures women who have received a mammogram in the past year; however, the current recommendation for this age group is to get a mammogram every 2 years. For this reason, our measure may underestimate the percentage of women meeting the current mammography screening recommendation.
Numerator
The numerator is the number of women ages 65-74 enrolled in Medicare Part B for at least one month of the selected year who have had a mammogram in the last year (Current Procedural Terminology/Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes: 77052, 77057, 77063, G0202).
Denominator
The denominator is the number of female Medicare beneficiaries ages 65-74 enrolled in Medicare Part B for at least one month of the selected year. Individuals enrolled in Medicare Advantage at any point during the year are excluded.
Can This Measure Be Used to Track Progress
This measure can be used to track progress with some caveats. It is important to consider the data source change introduced with the 2019 Annual Data Release, when comparing Mammography Screening data across years. Additionally, the measure includes mammography screening received by those enrolled in the Medicare FFS program only.
Finding More Data
Disaggregation means breaking data down into smaller, meaningful subgroups. Disaggregated data are often broken down by characteristics of people or where they live. Disaggregated data can reveal inequalities that are otherwise hidden. These data can be disaggregated by:
- Age
- Gender
- Race
Mammography screening data by age groups, gender, and race can be obtained from the Mapping Medicare Disparities tool.
References
- Elmore JG, Armstrong K, Lehman CD, Fletcher SW. Screening for breast cancer. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2005;293(10):1245-1256.
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Breast cancer: Screening. 2024. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/breast-cancer-screening
- Miller JW, King JA, Trivers KF, et al. Vital signs: Mammography use and association with social determinants of health and health-related social needs among women — United States, 2022. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 2024;73(15):351-357.