When you suspect that a patient has breast cancer, ACOG guidelines place a duty on you to discuss testing and treatment options such as mammography, biopsy, or surgery. It might seem obvious, but it's also a good idea to follow up on your patients' testing and treatments; doing so can help reduce the likelihood that a patient will win a failure-to-diagnose claim against you. To ensure that patients receive appropriate follow-up, and to minimize legal risk, 

 (May/June 2004) recommends the following:

 Refer patients to physicians you know or recommend. 

Advise patients to contact you for additional referrals if they are unable     to see one of the referred physicians. 

Make sure your patients understand the importance of going for follow-up     tests. 

Follow-up on your patients' test results and discuss the results with them.   

Contact patients who do not comply with prescribed actions to find out why.   

Document attempts to contact patients in the medical record. 