#letters: How can letters be sent to unhoused patients?

QUESTION:

When a patient has a mammogram and their address is "Homeless," and they have no regular address to send the notification letter to, what is the best course of action? We want our clients to remain compliant, but if all resources are exhausted, what advice can we give them?

ANSWER:

The MQSA leaves it up to each facility to develop a system to communicate results that works best for them. However, some ways this can be accomplished for patients without an address is to provide the patient with the results at the time of the exam, request that the patient return to the facility to pick up their results, provide results through a patient portal, or have the patient designate someone to receive the lay summary on their behalf, such as a physician or another responsible party. It's recommended that facilities keep documentation of its attempts to communicate results with their unhoused patients.

All information in this answer and all others are sourced from the MQSA Hotline at +1 (800) 838-7715. For other questions, contact Mammologix or the MQSA Program directly!