The Latest Mammography Technology and Compassionate Care are the Keys to Success

The Kearney Breast Center at Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash., has one mission: to provide breast cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment with state-of-the-art care in a compassionate environment.
The center accomplishes this mission in many ways, including being among the first in the nation to utilize the new Hologic Selenia Dimensions digital mammography system and creating a breast center with a relaxing, spa-like environment.
Hologic’s state-of-the art and easy-to-use technology helps Kearney Breast Center accomplish its goal by freeing the Center’s staff to pay attention to the most important part of the breast center: its patients.

Comfort for the Community
The Kearney Breast Center opened its new facility in August 2009, a beautiful 10,000 square foot breast center that was made possible entirely by community support.
At the time, women in Vancouver expressed a need for a greater focus on breast health services. Rather than wait for someone else to fill that need, four women came together and developed an organization called Pink Power to work with the hospital’s foundation, ultimately raising $4 million for the construction of a new breast center.
Kearney Breast Center has gone to great lengths to recognize the individuals who contributed to the center. An entire wall features tiles that list donor names, and many rooms were designed in honor or memory of loved ones.
Community members have worked closely with the hospital to create a breast center that exudes a feeling of comfort and relaxation. The whole interior reflects a spa-like atmosphere, and women receive refreshments and blankets in the waiting room, and wear plush robes instead of hospital gowns. The center even plans to begin offering massage therapy in the near future.
“We wanted to create an environment that is comforting and warm, because it seems to be a vital part of our health,” said Lesley Dykman, the Center’s mammography technical coordinator. “The people here have a vision — to offer compassionate care while focusing on the well-being of everyone we serve.”
Kearney enhances comfort during the exams by providing the Hologic MammoPad breast cushion. Patients love the soft foam pad, not only for its comfort but also its warmth.
In addition to comfort, the center offers MammoPad because of its clinical benefits. Patients are more relaxed and the grip-like surface holds breast tissue in place, both of which improves positioning, increases tissue acquisition and produces better images.
“It’s so much more comfortable for our patients, and we’ve seen a tremendous improvement in the quality of our exams,” Dykman said. “Between the patient comfort and the clinical benefits, we’ll never stop using MammoPad.”

A Leader in Technology
Under the proactive leadership of Director Mario Fabris and Manager Sherril Allen, Kearney Breast Center has always been ahead of the technology curve for women’s imaging. In 2005, it became the first facility in the region to offer digital mammography after installing its Hologic Selenia systems.
In 2009, it achieved another milestone by becoming the first center on the West Coast to install a Hologic Selenia Dimensions digital mammography system. The Dimensions is a cutting-edge mammography platform that can be configured for 3D tomosynthesis when and if it becomes available in the U.S.
As a technological leader, Kearney Breast Center has high standards for its equipment. Any technology it uses must excel in three areas: speed, accuracy and comfort.
Selenia Dimensions offers the same benefits as the Selenia digital mammography system, which provides high image quality along with several technology enhancements. Simply by pressing a button, technologists can switch from normal compression mode to the machine’s patented FAST Paddle technology, which conforms to the natural contour of the patient’s breast for more even compression. Dykman says this feature is so comfortable, they often encounter a problem rarely faced by mammography technologists — patients insisting there isn’t enough compression.
Productivity enhancements have drastically improved the speed of the exam on the Selenia Dimensions system. The faster cycle time results in 5-second image acquisition and the compression paddle can be preconfigured to automatically shift to the next view, allowing technologists to quickly move through the exam. The biometric log-in and touch-screen display reduce the amount of typing and make it easy for technologists to quickly accept, reject and enhance images.
“Selenia Dimensions is a phenomenal machine,” said Dykman. “It’s just so fast and comfortable. Not only do we love it but our patients love it too.”
“I think the equipment pays for itself,” said Dykman. “It’s state-of-the-art technology that is unbelievably simple to use. No one would ever be sorry for adding a Dimensions to their facility.”

Hologic — A Partner in Women’s Health
Hologic plays a significant role in the Kearney Breast Center’s success. In addition to service and support during multiple technology installations, Hologic consulted with the architects and designers of the new breast center to ensure sufficient space and proper placement of the equipment.
Most of the technology in the breast center is made by Hologic. In 2005, the hospital switched from another vendor to a Hologic’s Discovery bone densitometer. Kearney chose the Hologic Discovery system because it was faster, easier to use and offered significantly better image quality than their existing system. With the push of a button, the Discovery C-arm automatically moves into position for highly precise supine lateral scanning. The rotating C-arm eliminates patient repositioning, which means more precise lateral and AP views on a table designed to accommodate patients of all sizes.
Also in 2005, Kearney installed a Hologic MultiCare Platinum prone table for stereotactic breast biopsies. The image quality and table design enabled them to biopsy even hard-to-reach areas and streamlined the overall procedure, reducing the length of the center’s stereotactic biopsies by more than half.
“I’ve been so impressed with the attention and knowledge we have received from Hologic,” Dykman said. “It’s one thing when a company says they care about women’s health, but it’s another thing to prove it like they do. Between the superior technology and incredible support, any other company is a distant second to Hologic when it comes to women’s health.”

This case study was supplied by Hologic.