FDA: No. of mammo sites drops again

Sep 1, 2010

The number of mammography facilities accredited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continued its slow decline in the FDA's most recent reporting period.

As of September 1, there were 8,646 mammography facilities accredited in the U.S., down 0.8% compared to 8,713 facilities in operation as of October 1, 2009. The FDA also noted that 5,903 facilities have accredited full-field digital mammography units.

Mammography facilities accredited under MQSA, by reporting period

2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	August 2009	September 2010
9,184	9,117	8,979	8,873	8,833	8,859	8,817	8,711	8,646

MQSA = Mammography Quality Standards Act

The percentage of inspections where the highest noncompliance was a level 1 violation (the facility fails to meet a key MQSA requirement that may compromise the quality of mammography services) was 0.8%.

For level 2 violations (meets all key MQSA requirements but fails to meet one or more MQSA standards), the percentage was 14.5%, and for level 3 violations (incomplete record keeping and failure to have systems for tracking and recording minor violations), it was 3.4%. The vast majority of facilities, or 81.2%, came through with no violations.

The total number of annual mammography procedures reported was 38.8 million, according to the FDA, representing a 5% increase compared to 37 million as of September 1, 2009.

Report: Mammography market to continue growth, August 31, 2009

Mammography procedure volume drops 16% since 2000, March 17, 2009

AJR studies show decline in mammo use, workforce shortages, February 3, 2009