Loading...Loading...October continues to serve as a critical time for raising awareness about breast cancer screening and early detection. With breast cancer remaining the most common cancer among women—affecting approximately one in eight women during their lifetime—health care providers hold a pivotal position in encouraging proactive screening measures.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) maintains its recommendation and NCQA is updating its HEDIS measure specification to include the requirement for women ages 40 to 74 to receive screening mammograms every two years, emphasizing the life-saving potential of early detection.
Addressing persistent health disparities
Despite ongoing efforts, significant disparities in breast cancer screening rates persist across racial and ethnic groups. Recent data continues to show variations in mammography screening rates, with barriers including:
- Access to care: Geographic and financial obstacles
- Cultural factors: Language barriers and health beliefs
- Provider communication: Need for culturally sensitive outreach
- Insurance coverage gaps: Understanding of benefits and coverage
These disparities underscore the critical importance of targeted patient outreach, comprehensive education initiatives, and improved access to care programs that ensure equitable opportunities for timely breast cancer screening and treatment across all communities.
Understanding benefits coverage
Most of our health plans provide coverage for screening mammograms at no cost to women 40 and older when utilizing in-network providers. N/A ANH/BSH: For members enrolled in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program® (BCBS FEP®) Basic Option, Standard Option or Blue Focus plans, screening mammograms performed by Preferred providers are covered without copay or deductible requirements.
Essential resources
- Quality Improvement Toolkits: Comprehensive resources for enhancing screening programs
- USPSTF guidelines: Latest evidence-based screening recommendations
- CDC educational materials: Patient education resources and risk factor information
Regence Medicare Advantage members with pharmacy benefits can manage their expenses and better comply with their medication plan by using these options.
Amazon Pharmacy is our preferred home delivery pharmacy for Medicare Advantage plans. Amazon Pharmacy provides your patients with:
- Access to medications at the preferred cost-share level, saving money on up to 100-day supplies; use of alternative home delivery pharmacies will result in higher cost-share for medications
- A seamless online experience with easy sign up and auto-population of their prescription history
- 24/7 access to pharmacists and online customer support
- Free two-day shipping for Amazon Prime members and standard free shipping for non-Prime members nationwide
- Real-time online tracking and access to their medication and order history
- Amazon Pharmacy can fill most brand and generic medications, except for Schedule II controlled substances or specialty medications, which should be procured through local, in-network pharmacies.
- Ask your patients if they want to use Amazon Pharmacy for their home delivery prescriptions. Note: If this is the first time your patient is using Amazon Pharmacy, they will need to sign up for Amazon Pharmacy using their Amazon account either online or through the Amazon app.
- Sending prescriptions to Amazon Pharmacy is simple. Submit them via:
- E-scribe: Amazon.com – Amazon Pharmacy Home Delivery
- Fax: (512) 884-5981
- Address: 4500 S Pleasant Valley Rd, Suite 201 Austin, TX 78744
Once Amazon receives a prescription, they notify your patient to select their payment method and complete checkout on Amazon Pharmacy. For reoccurring prescriptions, patients can turn on automatic refills.
Amazon Pharmacy’s provider directory is sourced from SureScripts. If your electronic medical record (EMR) uses SureScripts, verify the completeness and accuracy of your SureScripts provider profile. If your EMR does not use SureScripts, please consider faxing in your prescription or calling the dedicated prescriber line at 1 (855) 206-3605.
If you have questions about Amazon Pharmacy or need help, please call Amazon’s dedicated prescriber line at 1 (855) 206-3605 or visit their website for prescribers.
Preferred retail pharmacies
Patients can save money by using a preferred pharmacy, many of which offer up to 100-day supply prescriptions. To find out which pharmacies are preferred:
- Visit our Medicare Advantage pharmacy page, locate the appropriate Medicare plan name, and then select 2025 pharmacies to access the pharmacy search page.
- In the I’m searching for section, choose preferred retail.
- Enter your patient’s ZIP code or address.
- Look for a yellow letter P in your search results to find a preferred pharmacy.
- Contact the preferred pharmacy to send a new prescription.
PillPack by Amazon Pharmacy
If your patient is taking multiple medications or has difficulty staying organized or using a pillbox, PillPack by Amazon Pharmacy offers a solution. As a preferred retail pharmacy, PillPack delivers pre-sorted, one-month supplies scheduled by dosage time and date directly to the patient’s residence.
- Delivery is free.
- Pharmacists are available 24/7 by phone, email or mobile chat.
- PillPack will work closely with you, your patient and us to address any concerns.
Sign up is easy. Members can visit PillPack online or call 1 (855) 745-5725, extension 3. Prescribers can call 1 (855) 206-3605.
As a PCP, one of your key roles is to act as an information resource about all the medications your patients take. Many of our members take several medicines, vitamins and supplements from different sources. This can lead to duplicate therapy or potentially adverse interactions, especially if they have multiple prescribers.
In a 2024 survey of our Medicare members, about 83% responded affirmatively to a question about whether they had talked with their provider about all the prescription medications they were taking. While this rate is good, it still means many of our members are not having the conversation or don’t remember having had a conversation.
Facilitating memorable conversations
To facilitate memorable conversations about medications, many offices ask patients to bring all their medications, vitamins, supplements, herbal remedies and other products they are taking to an office visit at least once per year. During that visit, the PCP, a nurse or pharmacist can:
- Review the medications
- Identify any concerns with the medications
- Ensure the patient is taking them as prescribed
- Make sure the patient understands each product's purpose
Techniques for improving patient recall
To help patients remember conversations about their medications, you can use practical techniques like the teach-back method. This involves asking patients to repeat what they’ve learned in their own words, which helps uncover any gaps in understanding and confirms they truly grasp the information. Additionally, reviewing any changes to medications at the end of the visit, and clearly marking these changes on the after-visit summary, reinforces the details and helps patients recall important updates.
Patient resources
Educational handouts and flyers are another great way to help patients remember conversations about their medications, and they can help PCPs and staff facilitate these conversations. We have several flyers (available in English and Spanish) about medication management that can be shared with your patients. Look for the Medications and Member Experience with Medications category in our Quality Improvement Toolkit.