When a mammogram or ultrasound detects a highly suspicious lesion in the breast, patients usually have to wait up to three weeks for a biopsy to determine if they have breast cancer.

To eliminate that agonizing wait, the University of Chicago Medicine has launched BIOPSY NOW, a new initiative that provides same-day breast and lymph node biopsies for patients whose mammograms and ultrasounds suggest a very high likelihood of cancer.

While the biopsy results still take a few days, the BIOPSY NOW program allows a patient to get all of their tests done in one visit. That means a faster diagnosis, and if necessary, a head start on treatment.

“It’s been a game-changer,” said UChicago Medicine radiologist Kirti Kulkarni, MD. “What was taking 21 days could be achieved in less than one week.”

UChicago Medicine is the only hospital system in the Chicago area to offer this patient-focused program.

BIOPSY NOW, which was launched Sept. 15, also immediately schedules a patient to meet with a breast cancer surgeon and the surgery team, sometimes on the same day.

“You can know who your care team will be on day one,” said UChicago Medicine surgical oncologist Cristina O’Donoghue, MD, MPH. “After a suspicious finding, having this all done on the same day gives patients peace of mind, knowing they’re going to have answers.”

Kulkarni led the creation of the BIOPSY NOW initiative with support from O’Donoghue, Shari Snow, MD, the section chief of UChicago Medicine’s Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery Program, and OB/GYN Maryam Minhaj Siddiqui, MD.

The physicians worked to eliminate some of the bottlenecks that can delay timely care.

BIOPSY NOW streamlines the testing process for doctors as well by creating a new reflexive work order for OB/GYNs and primary care doctors. A breast radiologist, for instance, may proceed with additional tests by placing orders themselves.

The initiative has also reorganized the staff’s schedules and workloads, allowing time for them to perform a same-day biopsy on a patient if necessary. An additional breast cancer nurse navigator was added to the staff to help the process run efficiently.

“There’s a lot of stress and anxiety in a patient who knows there’s something growing in their breast and that they have to see a surgeon,” Kulkarni said. “BIOPSY NOW improves patient care immensely.”

The breast imaging physicians who made this initiative a success are: Kulkarni, Gregory Henkle, MD, Hiroyuki Abe, MD, MPH, Angela Whittington, MD, Emily Sellers, MD, Derek Franco, MD, and Aiyah Jandali, MD. The breast imaging fellows are Hailey Kryzton, MD, and Sara Iqbal, MD.