Their Crowning Moment...A Landmark Achievement.

The Breast Center at Sequoia Imaging, part of the Kaweah Delta Health Care District in California's San Joaquin Valley, recently transitioned to a completely digital environment with the installation of two Hologic Selenia systems. The two Selenia digital mammography systems replaced five analog film-screen systems, and completed the consolidation of imaging services into one central location.

This was the facility's crowning moment-a landmark achievement. Digital seemed so sensible from a business and patient care point of view, and Sequoia had opposed the idea of placing old mammography technology in a facility that contained state-of-the-art equipment for its other modalities.

Consolidation pays off

As our new breast center reopened with new digital equipment, we faced a patient appointment backlog of more than two months. We wondered, "Can we really go from five systems to two and have it work?" Time gave us our answer: After just 60 days with the new Selenia systems, we cleared up our entire backlog.

The new systems also allowed Sequoia to improve overall capacity. "We are seeing 25 more patients per day than we were before, and with only the two Selenia systems," says Renee Lauck, manager of Sequoia Imaging.

Currently, Sequoia services as many as 80 patients a day-up from the previous daily throughput rate of 50 to 60-and has the option of servicing as many as 100 a day.

New technology saves time

The system's ability to increase patient capacity is based on a simple principle: with digital, images are available and viewable in seconds, eliminating time at the film processor. Within five minutes, we know whether the image is usable. Normal screening sets of four images once took 20 minutes to process.

"With analog screenings, we were seeing one patient every 30 minutes; one every hour for diagnostics," says Lauck. "Now we can see three patients every 20 minutes while balancing productivity with time to care for the patient."

Patient- and doctor-friendly

Though the reduced exam times have allowed patients to move through the process much more quickly, they haven't adversely affected women's feelings regarding the care they receive. Rather, they appreciate the faster examination cycles and increased one-on-one time with the technologists, says Lauck. "The mammographer no longer has to leave the exam room to process film, so they are actually in the room the whole time. The women are rarely left alone."

Also with digital imaging, physicians and radiologists can view images from anywhere within the hospital's information technology system- referring physicians can even call them up from their own office. Previously, physicians could spend days reviewing a patient's films and consulting with one another. With this system, doctors can view the mammograms simultaneously, even from home.

Financial sensibility

The Selenia systems make diagnostic, clinical and financial sense. Digital technology allows for higher patient capacity, increased efficiency, faster turnarounds and increased reimbursements.

For perhaps the first time in mammography history, hospitals are seeing a return on investment. That's something to smile about.