January 15, 2008
Merrilyn Blackmore, YKHC’s Mammographer/Radiographer, travels to villages with the mobile mammography machine, shown here folded up for transport.
Mobile Mammography unit wins radiology accreditation
The Diagnostic Imaging Department is proud to announce that our new Portable Mammography Machine has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation as the result of a recent survey by the American College of Radiology.
For many years mammograms, otherwise known as breast x-ray exams, have been performed at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital in Bethel, with women from all over the region traveling in to receive their exam. Now, thanks to the Women's Health Grant, mammograms are on-the-go with a new mobile mammography machine traveling to the villages. The goal is to detect cancerous diseases before symptoms begin.
A mammography exam, called a mammogram, plays a key role in the early detection of breast cancer. It can show changes in the breast up to two years before a patient or physician can feel them.
The mammography unit was bought by the Women's Health Grant and made its first trip for a remote mammography clinic last October to Aniak.
The American College of Radiology (ACR), headquartered in Reston, VA., awards accreditation to facilities for the achievement of high practice standards after a peer-review evaluation. Evaluations are conducted by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. The surveyors report their findings to the ACR's Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report.
