millergrovesue wrote:Lame, PPA. Women don't need anyone to arrange mammograms. All we have to do is walk into a mobile mammography bus or into a hospital and ask for a mammogram. Procedure may be different for men, I don't know.
Sue, I am posting a link for you to a full objective discussion of PPA and mammograms. It is a good article and sheds some light and perspective on all of PPAs services.
http://www.factcheck.org/2012/10/planned-parenthood-and-mammograms/When you say women no longer need anyone to arrange mammograms for them you are undoubtedly correct...in regard to women like you and your peers (middle class, educated, accustom to thinking for themselves). But, you and your peers are not all women. I don't know but you may not even be representative of all women. The poor and uneducated are NOT like you and it is more than just economic. I have a hard time trying to imagine all the things these people have NO knowledge of that I take for granted as common knowledge. If you don't know that a thing called a mobile mammography Bus exists you may well not know you can walk into one and get something called a mammogram that you just heard about.
So, PPA serves these people primarily. The fill a spot between PCP and gynecologist for these women. They provide basic screenings and education then make such referrals as may be required for breast care, STD treatment and contraception. They also help with expenses for these women who often cannot afford the indicated care otherwise. Consider, does your PCP or gyno had an imaging lab in their office or do they refer you to appropriate radiological specialists and specialty facilities? I think I know the answer...my wife works for one of the Radiological Imaging Centers here and has been in the field for over 20 years in administration and scheduling.
I think we all fall into the habit of thinking everyone else is pretty much like us. I mean, of course, they aren't as smart as us but generally they know most of the same stuff we do even if they don't understand it as well as we do. At least, that is my experience. The problem with this is that it isn't true by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it seems to me that just the opposite is more generally true.
Anyway, just sayin'...