--- title: Mammograms: Computer Analysis Doesn't Improve Accuracy description: A new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine questions whether mammography with CAD really improves diagnostic accuracy. canonical: https://time.com/4052137/mammograms-computer-analysis-accuracy/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-28T18:02:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T11:19:08.342Z article:section: Health og:title: Adding Computer Analysis to Mammograms Doesn’t Improve Accuracy og:description: A new study suggests the analysis doesn't make the tests more accurate og:url: https://time.com/4052137/mammograms-computer-analysis-accuracy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43cc20e0a36d9813/698865d52dce012e329e5c09/mammo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 312450-001 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Adding Computer Analysis to Mammograms Doesn’t Improve Accuracy twitter:description: A new study suggests the analysis doesn't make the tests more accurate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43cc20e0a36d9813/698865d52dce012e329e5c09/mammo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Adding Computer Analysis to Mammograms Doesn’t Improve Accuracy, Study Says by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 28, 2015 6:02 PM UTC  Male radiographer sat at light box studying mammograms Male radiographer sat at light box studying mammogramsGetty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 28, 2015 6:02 PM UTC The vast majority of mammograms provided in the United States use computer-aided detection (CAD), which is a technology that’s supposed to highlight areas of the mammogram that may be suspicious. The goal is to help radiologists in their review of breast cancer screenings. But a [new study](http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2443369) published in the journal _JAMA Internal Medicine_ questions whether mammography with CAD really improves diagnostic accuracy. Earlier evidence suggested that the use of CAD could improve mammography detection rates by 20%, but other evidence indicates they do not improve screening accuracy and perhaps even lead to over treatment. In the new study, researchers looked at mammograms from 323,973 women who underwent breast cancer screenings. There were 495,818 mammograms with CAD and 129,807 without and the results were interpreted by 271 radiologists from 66 different facilities. The researchers concluded that CAD did not improve diagnostic accuracy and overall there was no beneficial impact of CAD on mammography interpretation. “These results suggest that insurers pay more for CAD with no established benefit to women,” the researchers concluded. The study did find a higher detection rate for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), also known as “stage 0 cancer” when mammograms were assessed with CAD, but the study authors note that finding more low-grade DCIS may not actually improve women’s outcomes. In a [corresponding editorial](http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2443366) to the study, Dr. Joshua J. Fenton of University of California, Davis writes that the medical community should have a conversation about whether we should still be paying for CAD. “The field of implementation science should take interest in interventions like CAD that are widely adopted in advance of strong evidence of effectiveness. What made CAD so alluring to patients, practitioners, or both, and why were payers willing (at least initially) to finance CAD? How is it that CAD is applied on 90% of US mammograms when it yields no clear benefits to patients?” Though more research may be needed, the researchers write that their results “lend no support for continued reimbursement for CAD as a method to increase mammography performance or improve patient outcomes.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4052137/mammograms-computer-analysis-accuracy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4052137/mammograms-computer-analysis-accuracy/"},"headline":"Adding Computer Analysis to Mammograms Doesn’t Improve Accuracy, Study Says","datePublished":"2015-09-28T18:02:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:19:08.342Z","description":"Computer-aided detection (CAD) for mammography is used in 90% of U.S. mammograms, but a new study suggests CAD doesn't make the tests more accurate","url":"https://time.com/4052137/mammograms-computer-analysis-accuracy/","keywords":["Cancer","Breast Cancer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43cc20e0a36d9813/698865d52dce012e329e5c09/mammo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43cc20e0a36d9813/698865d52dce012e329e5c09/mammo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"312450-001","caption":"312450-001","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cancer/","name":"Cancer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4052137/mammograms-computer-analysis-accuracy/","name":"Adding Computer Analysis to Mammograms Doesn’t Improve Accuracy, Study Says"}}]}] ```