Where the 30-60-90 Model Came From

In the early years of Mammologix, one of the first client relationships was with a small physician office practice where a breast surgeon was performing both screening and diagnostic mammograms.

Working in that environment was different from working with a conventional breast imaging facility. Because the surgeon was directly involved in the patient's diagnosis, treatment planning, and ongoing care, the practice operated with an unusually strong orientation toward follow-through. Staff didn't just record that a patient needed follow-up — they worked to make sure the patient actually completed it. They called. They tracked. They escalated when patients went quiet. Follow-up was not a documentation task. It was a clinical responsibility.

Identifying that a patient needs follow-up is only half the work. The other half is monitoring whether she returned — and continuing to reach her if she hasn't.

That principle, practiced daily in one small breast surgery practice, became the foundation for what Mammologix later formalized as the 30-60-90 day follow-up model.

The model is straightforward: if a patient does not return within the expected timeframe after a follow-up recommendation, she is identified as overdue. From that point, she is monitored and contacted at defined intervals — 30 days, 60 days, 90 days. Each interval triggers a structured outreach. The goal is not to generate documentation of attempts. It is to bring the patient back into care.

What was learned from that one practice became a model that could be adapted for any breast imaging facility. A large multi-site health system and a community hospital operate under the same underlying challenge: some patients who receive follow-up recommendations do not return on their own. Without a structured process for monitoring and reaching those patients, the facility has no reliable way to know whether the care gap is closing or widening.

Today, the 30-60-90 tracking framework supports both operational listings and patient communication programs across Mammologix clients. Facilities use it to identify overdue patients by time interval, generate outreach at each stage, and maintain a documented record of follow-up activity that supports both clinical continuity and audit readiness.

None of that started from a software requirement or a regulatory mandate. It started from watching a breast surgeon's staff refuse to let a patient fall through a gap — and recognizing that the discipline behind that behavior could be systematized.

Mammologix has been working in breast imaging facilities for nearly 30 years. Most of what we know came from the people doing the work — and from paying close attention to what happened when the process worked and when it didn't.