Screening mammography. Medical legal considerations.

The effort to respond to a public health mandate in screening nearly 50 million women in this country on a regular basis requires a departure from customary notions regarding diagnostic radiographic imaging. The screening mammogram, limited in both scope and interpretation, may be done in an efficient, rapid, throughput manner so long as it satisfies appropriate imaging parameters and reasonable interpretation. More time-consuming, deliberate approaches are reserved for patients with specific clinical or mammographic abnormalities. Successful practices will distinguish between these two efforts and plan accordingly.