Page 36 - HME Business, October 2017

BECOMING A COMPLETE POST-MASTECTOMY PROVIDER
Knowledge of the procedures and products, employing a certified mastectomy fitter, and having the compassion to help patients negotiate a traumatic life change are keys to business success.
By Joseph Duffy
In a brief published last year, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality says, while breast cancer rates have remained constant, the rate of women undergoing mastectomies increased 36 percent between 2005 to 2013, including over a tripling of double mastectomies.
“This brief highlights changing patterns of care for breast cancer and the need for further evidence about the effects of choices women are making on their health, well-being and safety,” says AHRQ Director Rick Kronick, Ph.D. “More women are opting for mastectomies, particularly preventive double mastectomies, and more of those surgeries are being done as outpatient procedures.”
With one in eight women being diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, the growing population of women undergoing breast surgery needs counsel and direction both before and after surgery procedures. That’s where
a compassionate, knowledgeable HME provider can add tremendous value and give patients the confidence and products they need to return to a normal post-surgery life.
In 2017, an estimated 252,710 new patients will be diagnosed with female breast cancer, says Nikki Jensen, vice president of member service group Essentially Women. She pointed out that most of these women will undergo a mastectomy or breast-conserving surgery as part of their treatment.
34 HMEBusiness | October 2017 | hme-business.com HME for Women’s Health