A new law recently signed by the Governor of New York aims to improve the information that breast cancer patients receive about reconstructive surgery and how it may be financed.
An unfortunate reality is that many patients don’t undergo breast reconstruction because they’re not educated about their options and not aware about universal health insurance coverage for the procedure. Under the new law, hospital physicians are required to have a discussion of breast reconstruction options with each patient, thereby increasing the number who choose the surgery (improving quality of life).
There appears to be a stark contrast in resources between breast reconstruction patients of different backgrounds. Evidently, some are making decisions about treatment with a relative lack of information, while others are independently seeking out advanced microsurgical procedures.
According to a recent study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, a growing number of breast cancer patients are using the Internet to find a reconstructive surgeon on their own, and many are choosing advanced microsurgical breast reconstruction procedures.