The Expanded Mammography Audit: Its Value in Measuring and Improving Your Performance

Nowhere in radiology is the application of an audit of performance more apt than in mammography. However, for the audit to be of real value in measuring and improving performance and outcomes, one must perform a greatly expanded version of the limited audit mandated by the Mammography Quality Standards Act. The following discussion details the essentials of collecting and calculating the appropriate data for the expanded audit, the importance of separation of screening and diagnostic mammography audit data, and the real and potential impact audit data analysis has on improving radiologist performance and patient outcomes. Limitations on audit analysis by demographic and other factors, impending new federal regulations involving the audit, and pertinent medicolegal issues are also reviewed.