How Is the VHA Coping with the Growing Ranks of Female Veterans Requiring Breast Care?

With the rapid growth in the numbers of female U.S. soldiers, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) faces the challenge of providing appropriate breast cancer services. Although VHA facilities provide screening and diagnostic mammography, patients requiring image-guided biopsies and breast magnetic resonance imaging are referred to non-VHA facilities. Investigators at a large urban VHA hospital reported on timeliness of diagnosis and treatment of invasive breast cancer following initial abnormal imaging or clinical suspicion of breast malignancy from 2000 to 2012. In 2008, the investigators' hospital expanded screening mammography services, recruited surgical oncologists, and improved coordination with outside diagnostic service provider…