See, Test & Treat Programs Around the Country

MISSISSIPPI: Tomeka Harps met with dozens of women at the University of Mississippi Medical Center at Jackson, Mississippi, on a Saturday morning in January. Harps was diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer at UMMC See, Test & Treat program a year earlier. Successfully treated, she has been sharing her story, and transforming the patients from tense to reassured.

107 women were seen, more than twice the participation at UMMC in 2017. Lead pathologists Stephen S. Raab, MD, FCAP, and Kim R. Geisinger, MD, FCAP, used pathology digital imaging (PDI) to test the hypothesis that cytotechnologist diagnostic accuracy interpreting Pap test digital images is equivalent to interpreting glass slide images.

TEXAS: At IVFMD Clinic in Irving, Texas, like so many other STT programs, primary barriers to care include having little or no health insurance and inability to afford co-pays. The clinic and the 30 clinic staff members and volunteers invested more than 160 hours of planning to ensure that the See, Test & Treat program at the IVFMD Clinic was a success. Sang Wu, MD, FCAP, was the lead pathologist, working along with Jonathan Lam, MD, and BT Tran, program coordinator.

NEW JERSEY: In addition to a grant from the CAP Foundation, the Health Foundation of New Jersey sponsored the program at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey at University Hospital, Newark, New Jersey, last October. Of 63 Pap exams, three were abnormal; of 50 mammograms, 15 were abnormal; and among 20 HPV tests, there was one positive result. All women with abnormal results were referred for follow-up.

Rutgers provided interpreters and educational materials in Spanish, Caribbean American (Portuguese), and Haitian Creole. Like many STT programs, Rutgers offered transportation and childcare services.

MASSACHUSETTS: More than 100 volunteers came together in March at the Cambridge Health Alliance to provide Pap smears, breast exams, mammograms, HPV testing, and more for underserved women in our community. CHA Women’s Health checked in 53 patients, most of whom had little or no insurance

“The most important piece of all of the free care that we provided is that it possibly saved several women’s lives,” said Rebecca A. Osgood, MD, FCAP. “There were four women who had abnormal Pap tests who are now able to receive follow-up care, as well as a few women whose mammograms indicated the need to return for additional screening. Reaching these women is the reason everyone put a herculean effort into organizing this event. I can’t thank everyone enough for all they did to make See, Test & Treat run so smoothly.”