Mammogram Buses: What to Know

Getting a mammogram at a hospital or health center can be challenging. It can be far from where you live or work, or the appointment takes too long, or you can’t afford the visit. 

Without screening, it’s easy to miss early warning signs of breast cancer. Research has found that women who had regular mammograms are at a lower risk of dying from the disease.

Mobile mammography buses and vans bring the mammograms to you, making it easier — and often cheaper — to get regular screening. And a mammogram on a van is no different from one at a hospital — the equipment is the same and the staff are often from hospitals and other traditional facilities that offer mammograms. 

A mammogram van is a bus, truck, or RV with a mammogram machine inside it. Just like the mammogram machine you’d find in a hospital, the one in the bus uses X-rays to screen for and diagnose breast cancer. The bus might also have changing rooms for patients, and computers for the staff to communicate with the hospital. 

The buses are typically run by a mammography technologist — a healthcare professional who’s been trained to perform mammograms. After the technologist takes the images, they send them to a radiologist (a doctor who specializes in interpreting medical images). 

“We know that screening mammography saves lives, but it can only save lives if people get the mammograms.” — Laurie Margolies, MD

Some vans also have additional staff members who help people register for the services, guide people through the screening process, and answer questions about accessing breast cancer resources.

If the radiologist identifies an area of concern, those staff members will reach out to people to schedule follow-up exams.

“You get everything that you would get at the hospital or one of our offices, but you get it in your community,” says Laurie Margolies, MD, chief of breast imaging at the Dubin Breast Center at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. The hospital’s Mobile Mammography Van provides screening across New York City.

Mammogram buses set up just about everywhere — from large metropolitan areas to small rural towns and Indian reservations. They can station themselves at health centers, corporate buildings, grocery stores, schools, and even public parking lots — and reach anyone who frequents these places. 

“If we didn't come to them, they probably wouldn't get their mammogram this year.”  — Gary Whitman, MD

The buses often travel to places that people trust. This could be a faith-based organization, such as a church, mosque, or synagogue. Or it could be a cultural community center. For example, the Mount Sinai van sometimes parks at Chinese, Korean, Indian and other cultural community centers in New York.

Most mammogram buses are affiliated with bigger medical centers, which tend to be in large cities, says Gary Whitman, MD, a radiologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He oversees four mammogram vans that park around Houston. 

Mammogram buses are for anyone age 40 and over who needs screening, but Whitman says that about 90% of the people that receive mammograms on the vans are people who receive fewer healthcare services. They may encounter economic, cultural, or linguistic barriers, or there may not be enough providers in their communities. 

“If we didn't come to them, they probably wouldn't get their mammogram this year,” Whitman says. “And a lot of our patients are receiving a mammogram for the first time.”  

Convenience is the biggest reason why people use mammogram buses. Because they’re right in people’s own communities, the buses reduce the time and cost of travel to a fixed center. But there are other conveniences, too.

While some buses require prescriptions, the Mount Sinai van allows people to schedule an appointment without a doctor’s order. This helps because many people don’t have a primary care physician or haven’t seen one in years. “Getting that prescription is a barrier,” Margolies says, “and getting rid of that barrier is probably even more important than the cost.”

The Mount Sinai van also has safety nets in place. Anyone who is uninsured or underinsured can apply to special programs and get their mammograms for little to no cost. 

It depends on the bus, but you’ll typically receive results through a letter, a phone call, or an electronic patient portal. At the Mount Sinai Mobile Mammography Van, they’re required to give you the results within 30 days. If someone's results are abnormal, they call within three to five business days to try to set them up with additional imaging.

The websites of local hospitals, health systems, and cancer centers often have an events calendar that lists the upcoming locations for the mammogram vans. Local elected officials and institutions like libraries also often organize vans in their communities. 

You can often schedule an appointment with a mammogram bus online. If it’s not clear from the website whether you’ll need a doctor’s prescription or referral for the mammogram, be sure to call and ask, so you’re prepared for the appointment. 

Mammogram buses don’t make screening totally pain-free, but they do help. And anything that increases the chances of getting screened can increase the chances of finding breast cancer early, when it’s easier to treat.  

“We know that screening mammography saves lives,” Margolies says, “but it can only save lives if people get the mammograms.”