Tanner Breast Health’s locations in Carrollton, Villa Rica and Bremen have earned two recent designations that help them stand out as leaders in quality diagnostic imaging.
The locations earned a three-year, full accreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), as well as designation as Breast Imaging Centers of Excellence from the American College of Radiology (ACR).
NAPBC is administered by the American College of Surgeons, whose Commission on Cancer has also accredited Tanner Cancer Care. NAPBC accreditation is granted only to those centers that have committed to provide the highest level of quality breast care and that undergo a rigorous evaluation process and review of their performance.
The accreditation process includes on-site surveys, during which the centers demonstrated compliance with standards established by the NAPBC for treating women who are diagnosed with the full spectrum of breast disease. The standards include proficiency in the areas of center leadership, clinical management, research, community outreach, professional education and quality improvement.
Receiving care at a NAPBC-accredited center ensures that a patient will have access to comprehensive care, including a full range of state-of-the-art services; a multidisciplinary team approach to coordinate the best treatment options; information about ongoing clinical trials and new treatment options; and quality breast care close to home.
The NAPBC is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to the improvement of the quality of care and monitoring of outcomes of patients with diseases of the breast. This mission is pursued through standard-setting, scientific validation, and patient and professional education. Its board membership includes professionals from 20 national organizations that reflect the full spectrum of breast care.
Tanner Breast Health’s designation as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence recognizes that the service has earned accreditation in mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy and breast ultrasound, including ultrasound-guided breast biopsy.
Peer-review evaluations, conducted in each breast imaging modality by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field, determine that designated facilities have achieved high practice standards in image quality, personnel qualifications, facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs.
The ACR is a national professional organization serving more than 36,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive healthcare services.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimated that there would be 232,340 patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in the United States in 2013. In addition, hundreds of thousands of women who will deal with benign breast disease this year will require medical evaluation for treatment options.
For more information about the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, visit their Web site at www.accreditedbreastcenters.org.
Along with digital mammography services in Carrollton, Villa Rica and Bremen, Tanner Breast Health offers mammography services throughout the region with the Mammography on the Move mobile mammography unit. More information on Tanner Breast Health is available online at www.TannerBreastHealth.org.