Develop Your Own Work Site Initiative Companies can support breast cancer awareness and screening programs. Many organizations have determined that when it comes to saving a life, the costs are worth the investment. Successful work site initiatives have been developed by large companies but even small companies can make a difference.

Getting Started

Review demographics of your work force

If the majority of female employees are 40 or older, then you should consider a comprehensive program that includes mammography screening. You should also consider these additional components to reinforce and complement your efforts:

All of these components can be made available to your work force via:

Form a Committee

An individual or small committee within the organization should evaluate current policy and make recommendations for a screening program. Committee members can be drawn from:

Review Current Coverage

Set an agenda for the committee and gather demographic data and review current coverage. After gathering data, your committee should review your current insurance coverage to determine:

If screening mammograms are covered:

If screening mammograms are not covered:

You will also need to determine who should be included in the screening. Don't forget to look at the guidelines. You may wish to offer the program to:

Decide on Your Program

To determine which accredited mammography screening program is best for your organization, you need to evaluate local mammography services.

You can call a comprehensive cancer center in your area, a local hospital, a mammography facility or radiological practices to find a facility near you.

You may encourage each employee to contract directly through her own physician for a mammogram and cover the costs through your organization or your health plan. Or you may choose to contract with one facility for the organization's screening mammograms. Regardless, call each facility to be sure that:

Establish a Contract for Services

If you decide to contract with one facility for all or most of your screenings, you will need to prepare a legally binding contract that details the number of mammograms, the cost and billing information and scheduling and reporting details.

Consider Cost Factors

Individual mammograms can cost upwards of $300, depending on location and type of facility available. By contracting with a local facility or mobile service, you may reduce that cost depending on frequency and the number of women enrolled. Companies with a small number of age-appropriate women might combine their program with another company and encourage spouses of male employees and/or retirees to participate.

For companies without health benefits and/or with low-income, uninsured women, city or state departments of health may be able to offer low- or no-cost screening through the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention's Breast and Cervical Cancer Campaign (www.cdc.gov/cancer/nbccedp/).

Develop a Comprehensive Program

To enhance your program and increase participation, be sure to provide educational forums, instruction in breast self-examination and print resources. Depending on your company's size, you may decide to hold your own on-site educational program prior to the screening, co-sponsor a public education forum with others in the community and/or hold an on-site education forum.

An on-site program can be developed by your communications staff, medical staff, community health experts or your health care provider. Managed care providers have preventative services components, so check with your provider.

Hold Classes in Breast Self-Exam

Hold a breast self-examination class for your employees on-site or at a local health care facility. To be most effective, limit each class to 20 participants.

You may wish to use informative how-to videos available through various cancer organizations. Many are available for free or for a nominal charge. Please review our Board of Sponsors page for a detailed listing of materials offered by each organization.

Promote and Evaluate Your Program

There are a number of ways to get your message out. You can add information to your company newsletter, send out a detailed email, provide desk drops, hang posters and distribute brochures or develop invitations to a forum.

After your program has completed, put a simple survey together and distribute it to those who participated. Ask what they liked and what they think can be improved. Note how many women were screened and what the outcomes were, compared to the cost incurred. Use their responses to improve upon next year's program, making breast cancer awareness month an annual event.

If breast cancer is detected, there are a number of organizations that offer support networks and educational materials. Please refer to the following organizations and their Web sites for more information: