Breast Cancer Evaluation Measures

Once a company has conducted assessment and planning for breast cancer screening programs, and developed the specific tasks of implementation for these programs, it is time to develop the evaluation plan. This evaluation plan should be in place before any program implementation has begun.  

Metrics for worker productivity, health care costs, heath outcomes, and organizational change allow measurement of the beginning (baseline), middle (process), and results (outcome) of workplace health programs. It is not necessary to use all these metrics for evaluating programs. Some information may be difficult or costly to collect, or may not fit the operational structure of a company. These lists are only suggested approaches that may be useful in designing an evaluation plan.

These measures are designed for employee group assessment. They are not intended for examining an individual’s progress over time, which would raise concerns of employee confidentiality. For employer purposes, individual-level measures should be collected anonymously and only reported (typically by a third party administrator) in the aggregate, because the company’s major concerns are overall changes in productivity, health care costs, and employee satisfaction.

In general, data from the previous 12 months will provide sufficient baseline information and can be used in establishing the program goals and objectives in the planning phase, and in assessing progress toward goals in the evaluation phase. Ongoing measurements every 6 to 12 months after programs begin are usually appropriate measurement intervals, but measurement timing should be adapted to the expectations of the specific program.  

Mammography screening is a valuable early detection tool that can identify breast cancer at an early stage when treatment is more effective and less expensive.

• In 2007, 202,964 women were diagnosed with breast cancer, and 40,598 women died as a result of breast cancer¹
• Women aged 40 to 64 years accounted for 61% of in situ cases, 54% of invasive breast cancer cases, and 40% of breast cancer deaths in 2005.² The direct medical care costs for breast cancer treatment were estimated to exceed $6 billion in 1996³