Today’s news is incredible.  Not only are women shocked and concerned but so are their physicians!  As most women have probably heard, the USPSTF (US Preventative Services Task Force) has changed the guidelines for routine screening mammography.  The 2009 USPSTF judged that although women in their 40s and women in their 50s benefit equally from routine screening mammography, women in their 40s experience greater harms from screening than do women in their 50s. Therefore, the USPSTF recommended routine screening for women aged 50-74 years but recommended against routine screening for women in their 40s.

It’s important to know that the current USPSTF panel is not made up of women haters, nor did they make their recommendations based totally on the bottom line: $$$.  While it is true that there are many false positives with routine screening for women in their 4os,  it  is also true is that more lives are saved by early intervention.  The bottom line is that many questions have yet to be answered.

For now,  ACOG (American  College of Obstetrics and Gynecology) has not changed their  screening recommendations.  For women 40-49, a screening mammography is recommended every 1-2 years.  Women 50  and older should have yearly screening.  There is no change to the recommendation that women continue self breast examination.

What effect this all will have on insurance coverage remains to be seen.   At Atlanta Women’s Specialists,  the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommendations will continue to be followed.

 Maria Arias MD

Another Mother’s Day is here and most who have children are experiencing our family’s love and appreciation for at least a day.  I myself awoke to breakfast served on a tray, a small vase of flowers and a poem written by my14-year-old daughter.  We mothers know how awesome the feeling is and we remember the day we birthed our babies easily.  Every mother has a story to tell about the day a son or daughter was born.

In that spirit, we  at Atlanta Women’s Specialists, would like to take the opportunity to wish our patients a very happy Mother’s Day.  A special thanks goes out to the moms who have entrusted the care of their children’s births to us.  As an Atlanta practice that has been around for 40 years, there are a lot of you out there.  Thanks for allowing us to be part of your lives and part of those special birthdays!

Maria Arias, MD

To coincide with the launch of our new and improved website, we’re introducing a Blog to help us keep in touch with you. We like to think our approach to women’s healthcare is smart, progressive and unique. In this first entry, we invite you to take a look at our new website. It introduces a fresh look and a new logo for us. It includes information, stored in an easy-to-find-and-read format, to help you learn more about your health and our approach to serving you. And it offers new opportunities for you to interact with us.

We already offer online services that are not available from other Atlanta OB/GYN physicians. Among the features we offer are 24/7 access to your health information, including lab results, and secure patient to physician messaging. (If you have not already signed up for My Health Record, you should do so today.) There is now a more robust online survey tool; this will help us learn from you how we can continue to improve our service. An exciting new feature is our Forums section. We set up the Forums to facilitate interaction by and among our patients. The way we see it, you are a rich source of information and help for each other. We’re sure you can benefit from each other’s experience and ideas. We’re happy to facilitate this. At the end of the day, we want you to be convinced we delivered the best healthcare experience to you. So, take a look around the new website and let us know what you think. In future blog entries, you’ll see us offer commentary on everything from innovations in women’s healthcare to changes in and around our office. We hope you’ll come back again and again.