UPMC Health Plan's Focus on Women

One of the strongest motivators for a woman to have a preventive test, including a mammogram, is her doctor’s recommendation.

UPMC Health Plan’s “Focus on Women” initiative is a partnership among UPMC Health Plan, network physicians, hospitals, and mammography centers designed to encourage women to obtain preventive health services such as mammography screenings and Pap tests for cervical cancer. It also includes efforts to urge women with a history of osteoporosis to take advantage of available medications.  
 
The Health Plan is working in collaboration with Magee-Womens Hospital, Heritage Valley Health System, Washington Hospital, and Excela Health, as well as UPMC Cancer Centers, the American Cancer Society, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, to meet the goal of the initiative — to encourage more women to seek preventive health care services.

The first phase of the program —  now underway —  is to contact female members of UPMC Health Plan ages 40 to 69 who have not had a screening mammogram during 2006 or so far in 2007. The Health Plan will continue its outreach efforts for at least the next two years.

“Focus on Women” also addresses cervical cancer screening and osteoporosis management in women who have had a fracture. These indicators are Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) quality indicators, which are a set of standardized performance measures developed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

“We need our physician, facility, and employer communities to help us in our quest to increase women’s participation in obtaining these valuable services,” says Diane Holder, president of UPMC Health Plan.