Women’s Health Imaging Center Awarded Prestigious Accreditation

June 4, 2012 - PRLog -- The American College of Radiology (ACR) has awarded South Nassau Communities Hospital’s Complete Women’s Imaging Center (CWI) a three-year term of accreditation in breast ultrasound and ultrasound-guided biopsy.  The center is also accredited in mammography and designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the ACR.

“This prestigious designation validates that we are fulfilling our mission,” said George Autz, MD, medical director of CWI and director of breast MRI services at South Nassau.  Dr. Autz also serves as the chair of mammography for New York State Radiological Society, and is president of the Long Island Radiological Society.

At CWI “We feel a mammogram is not enough. Every woman deserves a compassionate specialist in a caring partnership for breast health,” said Abraham Port, MD, medical director of CWI and director of breast imaging at South Nassau.

ACR accreditation demonstrates to the patients and communities served by CWI that:

·        it has voluntarily gone through a rigorous review process to be sure it meets nationally-accepted standards;

·        its’ personnel are well qualified, through education and certification, to perform and interpret medical images;

·        the equipment is appropriate for the tests or treatments provided, and the facility meets or exceeds quality assurance and safety guidelines.

Breast Ultrasound involves the use of sound waves to create a picture of breast tissue that is projected onto a computer screen.  During this procedure, a transducer sends and receives sound waves as it is moved across the breast and a computer analyzes the sound, creating an image of the breast tissue.  Studies on the effectiveness of the breast ultrasound technique showed that it is effective at detecting the difference between benign and cancerous tumors, and the studies’ researchers recommend it as a "tool of choice" for evaluating palpable lumps in women under 40.  

Ultrasound guided biopsy is a procedure that utilizes ultrasound guidance while performing a breast biopsy.  The ultrasound is used to direct the biopsy needle into the region of interest and obtain a sample of tissue.  Recent studies on ultrasound-guided breast biopsy have shown that it reduces procedure time as well as needle motion, resulting in increased accuracy of tissue sampling.

The ACR awards accreditation to facilities for the achievement of high practice standards after a peer-review evaluation of its practice. Image quality and procedure evaluations are conducted by board-certified radiologists and medical physicists who are experts in the field. The program also evaluates personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs. All findings are reported to the practice via a comprehensive report that includes recommendations for improvement, if applicable.  The ACR accredits facilities for: Breast ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), mammography, nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography (PET), stereotactic breast biopsy, ultrasound, and radiation oncology.

Located at 440 Merrick Road in Oceanside, CWI’s staff also features Michael Golia, MD, director of molecular imaging at CWI, and Michelle Listhaus, MD, breast imaging radiologist.  Since opening in September 2006, thousands of women have chosen CWI for expert care and advanced diagnostic and imaging technologies that are vital to detecting breast cancer and other potentially harmful breast health conditions.

These technologies include digital mammography (similar to standard mammography, but images of the breast are captured electronically and viewed on a computer screen, rather than through standard film screen x-ray); breast ultrasound (which utilizes high frequency sound waves to produce images of the breast and may identify lesions or abnormalities that might not otherwise be detected by mammography); Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging (an imaging technique that is a follow-up to mammography that can see lesions independent of tissue density and discover early stage cancer) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (which creates detailed pictures of the breast and gives physicians information about the location and nature of the cancerous or non-cancerous mass).

CWI also offers ultrasound of the thyroid gland and neck, ultrasound guided thyroid aspiration, gynecological sonography (pelvic, transvaginal, obstetrical and sonohysterograms), bone density studies (DEXA scans) and breast cancer risk assessment-genetic testing.  For more information about Complete Women’s Imaging or to schedule an appointment, call (516) 255-8220.

South Nassau Communities Hospital is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 435 beds, more than 900 physicians and 3,000 employees.  Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services.  In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, South Nassau provides emergency and elective angioplasty and is the only hospital on Long Island with the Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® Perfexion radiosurgery technologies.  South Nassau is a designated Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons and is recognized as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.  For more information, visit www.southnassau.org.