Choose a Quality Mammography Facility

Choose a quality facility

Many hospitals, clinics, and imaging or x-ray centers perform mammography.  Mobile units (often vans) offer screening at shopping malls, community centers, and offices. All of these facilities must meet the same quality standards.

Your doctor may refer you to a mammography facility, or you may select the one that is most convenient for you.

Make sure the mammography facility you choose is certified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unless it is a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facility.

A law, called the Mammography Quality Standards Act, requires all mammography facilities except those of VHA to be FDA-certified as of October 1, 1994. To be certified, facilities must meet standards for the equipment they use, the people who work there, and the records they keep. VHA has its own high-quality mammography program, similar to FDA's.

If the facility is not FDA-certified, get your mammogram in a facility that is certified.

To find a certified mammography facility, ask your doctor or call the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service toll free at 800-4-CANCER.