On October 5, the House approved, by voice vote, a bill (H.R. 4555) to reauthorize the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) through FY2007. The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the measure on June 24 (see The Source, 6/25/04). The Senate approved a bill (S. 1879) to reauthorize the MQSA for two years on February 3 (see The Source, 3/6/04).
First enacted in 1992, the MQSA sought to correct wide variations in the quality of mammography screening around the country. The law established uniform equipment, personnel, and quality standards; required mammography facilities to employ qualified physicians to interpret mammogram results; and created a quality assurance and control program.
Sponsored by Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), H.R. 4555 would allow the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue a temporary renewal certificate to a mammography facility seeking reaccreditation. The secretary also would be permitted to issue a provisional certificate to a facility allowing it to conduct examinations for educational purposes while an accrediting agency is on the premises.
The measure would require that health care officials with clinical practice and research experience related to mammography be included on the National Mammography Quality Assurance Advisory Committee. Under the bill, the HHS secretary would appoint at least four members from national breast cancer or consumer health organizations and at least two members from the mammography equipment industry.
Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) stated, “It is particularly fitting that the House is considering this bill today, as the month of October is formally recognized as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is estimated that this year over 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Like many other diseases, early detection of breast cancer is critical to saving lives. Right now, mammograms are the best screening tool available to women to help detect breast cancer at an early age.”
Noting that mammography “has increased the survival rate for women in their 40s by 16 percent,” Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said that the bill “ensures that American mammography providers continue to be held to high standards and that mammography continues to become a safer, more accurate tool for detecting breast cancer. It makes sense to update and extend this program to make certain we are fighting breast cancer as early as possible and as accurately as possible.”
