UH Geauga Earns Reaccreditation of Breast Biopsy Services
The Breast Center at University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center recently received reaccreditation of its mass and calcification core-needle biopsy capabilities from the American College of…
The Breast Center at University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center recently received reaccreditation of its mass and calcification core-needle biopsy capabilities from the American College of Radiology (ACR).
“This reaccreditation from the college documents that women with breast health issues will receive the most accurate, detailed results of their biopsy without having to leave Geauga County,” said University Hospitals Media Relations Affiliate Russ Lindway.
The ACR’s Committee on Stereotactic Biopsy Accreditation of the Commission on Quality and Safety surveyed the state-of-the-art breast biopsy imaging technique.
Subsequently, it awarded UH Geauga official recognition for another three-and-a-half years, through April 2017, Lindway said.
Accreditation review typically takes four to six months.
“The ACR granted our reaccreditation in just one month,” said UH?Geauga Medical Center Diagnostic Imaging Manager Maria Schmidt. “Their quick turnaround is a very positive statement about the quality of our breast center’s imaging services.”
The hospital has offered minimally invasive breast biopsies with ultrasound guidance to determine if masses are cancerous since the Breast Center opened in 2010.
“The stereotactic technique enables us to perform biopsies on lesions that are only detectable in a digital mammogram,” said Lee Zeiszler, who serves as both the diagnostic imaging medical director and also as the breast center’s assistant director.
“It lets us see very small, subtle lesions, including microcalcifications that are only two millimeters in size,” he said.
Without this new advanced core-needle capability, breast biopsies would otherwise require an invasive procedure, Zeiszler added.
“Since most of these biopsies end up not being cancer, the stereotactic approach is a very desirable first choice,” he said. “It saves our patients a lot of unnecessary surgery and the associated cost and stress.”
The American College of Radiology’s decision to reaccredit was the result of an extensive review of both the center’s stereotactic imaging samples, staff expertise and numerous safety reports.
“We furnished the ACR with a series of very specific images based on their criteria,” Schmidt said. “They also reviewed our exceptional infection rates as well as the certification and continuing education credits of both our radiologist and mammographers. All of these dimensions have led our robust program to become a breast health center of excellence for both the University Hospitals system and our patients.”
The breast biopsy imaging capabilities are part of a complete range of accessible services offered by the fully accredited Breast Center, which include digital mammography, diagnostic breast ultrasound, preoperative image-guided needle localization, preventive planning and genetic counseling.
To either learn more about the Breast Center’s core-needle biopsy services or to schedule an imaging appointment, call UH Geauga Medical Center at 440-285-7757 or visit www.uhgeauga.org and click “Services.”
