SAN DIEGO — A mammogram machine on wheels is making women’s health care more accessible.
Jennifer Nuovo, M.D., is the chief medical officer for Blue Shield of California’s Promise Health Plan. She said the mobile mammogram machine from Blue Shield Promise is helping to close gaps in breast cancer screenings by bringing it directly to communities across Los Angeles and San Diego counties.
“We have quite a number of members who are not getting their mammograms,” Nuovo said. “Then we call everyone in a five-mile area and say ‘hey, we’re having a mammogram event. We’d love for you to come to it. We’d love for you to get this screening test done.’ And then sign them up.”
They set up at San Ysidro Health, which does not have its own mammogram machine. The mission is deeply personal to Nuovo — she lost her mother to breast cancer.
“She was a very busy person; she was always helping out the neighbors and doing different things,” Nuovo said.
She is sharing her story with Diana Solorio, who decided to get a mammogram because the pop-up clinic was so close to her.
“Since I kind of know the area, it was really easy for me to know where the location was,” Solorio said. “When they said next to the Sprouts, I’m like ‘oh, I know where that is.’”
The National Institute of Health said breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women, regardless of race or ethnicity.
Solorio said she has gotten a few mammograms in the past, but she is overdue for an update.
“We always think that couldn’t be me, but we shouldn’t just leave it by chance but be responsible for our own health,” she said.
The Blue Shield Promise mobile mammogram program has hosted more than 70 mobile clinics and addressed care gaps for more than 1,000 members who had previously delayed or missed their breast cancer screenings.
Nuovo hopes there will continue to be advancements in getting every woman an accessible mammogram, but they will be here until then.
“People are working on other technologies, wand, hand-held, that I think are going to be the wave of the future. We’re just not there yet,” she said. “We just have to have women just do it, just go get your mammogram done and try to stay healthy for your family, try to stay healthy for your community.”
According to the CDC, regular mammograms are the most effective way to detect breast cancer early, and increase the chances of recovery.