Hendrick named Breast Imaging Center of Excellence
Hendrick Medical Center has recently been designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology (ACR). Hendrick Medical Center at Vera West is the only ACR Breast Imaging Center of Excellence within a 150 mile radius of Abilene.
By awarding facilities the status of a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence, the ACR recognizes breast imaging centers that have earned accreditation in all of the College’s voluntary, breast-imaging accreditation programs and modules, in addition to the mandatory Mammography Accreditation Program.
“We are proud of the Hendrick Medical Center at Vera West designation as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence,” said Dr. W. Michael Matthew, DO, Lead Radiologist at the Vera West Women’s Center. “This center is committed to providing the highest quality of proven diagnostic breast imaging services for our patients in West Central Texas with the goal of decreasing the rate of breast cancer deaths.”
The American College of Radiology (ACR) awards this designation for a period of three years to facilities meeting stringent criteria for performance of four areas of expertise which include mammography, diagnostic breast sonography, sonographic-guided needle biopsies and stereotactic-guided needle biopsies.
“Guidelines in the four areas cover standards for equipment, performance of imaging procedures, training of technical staff and physicians, as well as quality assurance programs overseeing these components,” said Matthew.
Peer-review evaluations, conducted in each breast imaging modality by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field, have determined that Hendrick Medical Center has achieved high practice standards in image quality, personnel qualifications, facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs. The ACR, headquartered in Reston, Va., is a national organization serving more than 32,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists with programs for focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology, as well as the delivery of comprehensive health care services.