Superior and compassionate breast care with cutting edge technology

Adding High Tech to their Soft Touch

Huggins’ commitment to providing the latest technology is an ongoing effort. According to Lefoley, every year the hospital has a plan to bring in some form of new technology. As part of the hospital’s five-year plan, 2007 was the year of digital mammography.

“[Digital mammography] is a significant investment. But we are significantly committed to providing state-of-the-art technology to our patients.” Carol Lefoley Huggins Hospital ”

“Our [analog] machine was in need of replacing anyway, and we wanted to offer the gold standard to our community,” Saxby says.

Yet the decision to go digital was not as easy as the decision to offer MammoPad, mostly because of the increased cost of utilizing digital equipment versus analog.

“It is a significant investment,” Lefoley says. “But we are also significantly committed to providing state-of-the-art technology to our patients. So we decided to put our money where our mouth is.”

Once the hospital was offering a state-of-the-art mammography experience with both digital and MammoPad, they wanted to make sure women in the community knew about it. But without a designated marketing department, the hospital staff faced a lack of time and resources. So they relied on help from both the MammoPad and Hologic Selenia marketing programs – often combining elements of the two – in order to spread their message to the community.

“We kind of invented the wheel when it came to marketing MammoPad and digital together,” Saxby says.

From the two programs, they used ads, posters, and letters to referring physicians and women in the community. They used the templates as a framework for the pieces, customizing the copy for their facility.

A Winning Combination

Huggins’ extensive efforts are clearly not going unnoticed. The hospital has received many comments of appreciation from women regarding their experiences with digital and MammoPad. In fact, several women placed calls directly to the hospital’s president to express their gratitude.

“To receive that kind of individual feedback is just amazing,” Lefoley says. “It really reminds us that we’re doing the right thing for our patients.”

Their success is also evident in the numbers. Three years ago, the average mammography patient volume at Huggins was six patients a day. Now, with the combination of MammoPad and digital, they regularly see at least 18 patients a day.

And what is Huggins Hospital’s secret to successfully marketing the combined benefits of digital mammography and MammoPad?

“Engaging the mammographers is key,” Saxby says. “You need to get them on board and show them that these technologies are what they and their patients deserve. “Before I was just focused on doing the same exams, and I didn’t really think beyond that. Now I’m practically selling the benefits of the technologies!”

Adds Lefoley: “I couldn’t have done this without the help of Louise and the other mammographers.”

The efforts of Lefoley, Saxby and the rest of the Huggins staff really boil down to one simple reason:

“We just love our community and want to do the best we can for them,” Lefoley says. “We may be a small hospital, but we have a big commitment to our community.”