Compassion and Technology Equals Victory

For radiologist Dr. Susan Gaskill, victory is the only option

Frustrated by the time it took for hospitals in the the Bay Area of Houston to acquire technology she felt provided the best possible breast care, Dr. Susan Gaskill mustered her courage, tenacity and vision to open her own breast imaging center in October, 2006.

Leaving what she describes as “a nice, comfortable practice” near Houston, she commuted to Dallas by plane for close to a year to gain experience with the latest in breast health technologies, including digital mammography. She brought that knowledge and technology back to her community with the opening of Victory Breast Diagnostics and Women’s Imaging.


The Right Technology: a Key to Victory’s Success

From the onset, Dr. Gaskill was clear about the type of technology needed to make Victory a success. “After comparing digital to film-screen, she found direct capture digital technology produced superior images. "I felt very strongly from the onset that I wanted direct capture technology,” Dr. Gaskill said. “The images were just clearer. I could tell that almost from a distance, looking at a monitor of the two technologies. That was actually the easy part.”

After comparing digital to film-screen, Dr. Gaskill found direct capture digital mammography technology produced superior images. “I felt very strongly from the onset that I wanted direct capture technology. The images were just clearer. I could tell that from a distance, looking at a monitor of the two technologies. That was actually the easy part,” she said.

Creating a comfortable, patient-centric space that optimized workflow and was a pleasant place to work, was a primary objective in designing Victory. From the clerical staff to the technologists, everyone's input was sought in creating an efficient floor plan that served everyone well. "I got the input of the key people delivering their service," she says. "We all put our heads together and we each designed our own areas. The main focus of a breast-imaging center is the team approach. Everybody's job is as important as the next person's. And communication within the team is extremely important."

Choosing a supplier with a shared focus was also of critical importance. “Hologic is dedicated to breast imaging. When dealing with the other vendors, I’ve felt that breast imaging was just not as important as the MRI business, the CT business, or the nuclear medicine business. With Hologic I never felt like a red-headed stepchild,” she asserted.