Cervical Cancer Screening
2023-24 Edition
Why is it important to screen for cervical cancer?
Cervical cancer can occur in the lower part of a woman’s uterus, called the cervix. By doing a Pap test, doctors can find abnormal cells that may lead to cervical cancer even before there are signs or symptoms of the disease. In finding and treating cancer early, you can prevent the cancer from spreading to other parts of your body.
How should doctors screen for cervical cancer?
Your doctor will do a Pap test as part of a pelvic exam. The Pap test is a simple test that checks for abnormal cells on your cervix. National guidelines recommend that women between the ages of 21 and 65 get a Pap test every 3 years, or every 5 years for women ages 30-65 who get a Pap+HPV co-test instead of a Pap test alone. Talk with your doctor about which of these options is best for you. Women who are at high risk for cervical cancer may need to be screened more often. If you have an abnormal Pap test, your doctor will talk with you about your next steps and options.
To learn more about Pap tests and cervical cancer, talk with your doctor and health plan for materials and other resources. These materials can help you better understand the tests, results and treatment options.
What do the stars mean?
The scores show how well the health plan did at making sure women receive appropriate cervical cancer screening according to national guidelines. A higher score means more women got the right care at the right time.
The scores are based on information from administrative records of at least 30 female health plan members aged 21 to 64 in 2022. Some plans also use patient medical records which are often more complete and result in higher scores. Plans that decide not to use medical records are likely to have lower scores.
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The data source for data for the Report Cards is Quality Compass® 2023 and is used with the permission of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Quality Compass® 2023 includes Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) and Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) data. Any data display, analysis, interpretation, or conclusion based on these data is solely that of the authors. NCQA specifically disclaims responsibility for any such display, analysis, interpretation, or conclusion. Quality Compass and HEDIS are registered trademarks of NCQA. CAHPS® is a registered trademark of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
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