Beyond the Purchase, a Partnership for the Future

The All New Hoag Breast Care Center Is an Integral Part of the Sue and Bill Gross Women's Pavilion

The new home for Hoag Breast Care Center in Newport Beach, California, is the Sue and Bill Gross Women's Pavilion. The Pavilion is a multi-million dollar medical facility dedicated to providing women with the highest quality health care services.

In keeping with this dedication, the Center decided to completely upgrade its mammography equipment. The older analog technology was eliminated and replaced with Selenia digital mammography systems from Hologic. "We already had two Selenia units at our previous site," explains Dr. Gary Levine, Breast Radiologist and Medical Director. "We were very impressed with the technology and with Hologic as a company." To date four Selenia mammography systems have been installed in the new Center.

A Focus on Women's Health

The decision to create a totally digital mammography center was a logical step in improving health care delivery for women. The decision to go with Hologic as their digital vendor was not as easy.

For many years Hoag had partnered with another manufacturer. They bought their systems exclusively from that company and were a committed and important show site. Despite the long history of working with the other company and the offer of very favorable pricing to go with the other company's digital mammography acquisition systems and workstations, Hoag chose Hologic.

"One reason," says Dr. Levine, "was the company itself, and its focus on women's health issues. Hologic has a concentrated focus on women's imaging and breast care. With other manufacturers, the mammography equipment was merely one item, in a multi-focused array of equipment."

The Image Quality of Digital Made the Decision Easier

The increased contrast and much greater detail of digital images made the decision to move from analog to digital easier. "The images are simply superior," says Dr. Levine. "The image quality is exceptional."

Going Digital Saved Time

With the new Selenia technology, the time for interventional procedures, such as needle localizations and surgical biopsies, has been cut in half. Procedures that once took as long as forty-five minutes can now be done in twenty.

For some patients, shorter exam times can be very important. Dr. Levine points to several incidents of women having trouble being in compression for the time required on the old analog systems. "Remaining in compression for too long, motionless, in a warm room.some women get light headed, and even pass out. But the shorter procedure times with the Selenia system has completely eliminated this occurrence."

According to Sandra Reynaga, CRT(R)(M), lead technologist at Hoag Breast Care Center, the Hologic FASTT paddle technology ensures that the patients are more comfortable during mammography procedures. "The FAST paddles provide even compression across the breast. This is not possible with other equipment. Women are much more comfortable in the Selenia system.they are not complaining about the compression at all."