The St. Bernards Outpatient Imaging Center has been designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology (ACR). The St. Bernards facility is the only ACR accredited Breast Imaging Center of Excellence in the state of Arkansas.
The designation means the ACR, the nation’s oldest and most widely recognized medical imaging and oncology accrediting body, recognizes that breast imaging services at the St. Bernards Imaging Center are fully accredited 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, have determined that the St. Bernards Outpatient Imaging Center has achieved high practice standards in image quality, personnel qualifications, facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs.
“We are pleased to have earned the Breast Imaging Center of Excellence designation from ACR, and we think it speaks volumes as to the quality of care our patients receive both in screening and in diagnosing breast disease,” stresses Kevin Hawley, vice president for patient support services at St. Bernards.
“St. Bernards has had a program of women’s diagnostic services that stands heads and shoulders above others in this region. We have been and will continue to be at the forefront through awareness programs, technology and the delivery of the highest quality of care for women in our area.”
St. Bernards Imaging Center brings the latest technology in women’s imaging services to our patients in the most convenient way possible as a free-standing diagnostic facility designed for patient care, comfort and functionality. The center includes a dedicated women’s services wing to provide more privacy during testing and examinations.
Women’s imaging services include full-field digital mammography, magnetic resonance breast imaging, stereotactic biopsy and ultrasound services. Digital mammography utilizes one-pass, accurate and precise exposure using a sophisticated detector that accommodates almost all breast sizes and allows accurate, easy positioning for image sharpness and improved patient care. All St. Bernards Imaging Center technologists are registered in the field of mammography.
St. Bernards is the first and only breast imaging center in the region to offer bilateral enhanced breast MRI —a supplemental tool to mammography because it is an excellent problem-solving technology. Breast MRI is used to investigate breast concerns detected with mammography or other imaging exams and also is useful for staging breast cancer, determining appropriate treatment and follow-up after treatment.
Our stereotactic biopsy system represents new technology that shortens procedure time. In some cases, a preliminary diagnosis can be given the same day of service. The redesigned table allows needle biopsies of lesions that previously could be biopsied only in surgery. All ultrasounds are conducted by registered St. Bernards sonographers.
St. Bernards is the only imaging facility in the region with a dedicated care navigator, a registered nurse with breast health specialist certification, who provides one-on-one care to assist patients from screening to diagnosis, guiding women through what can be a stressful time and offering countless resources to connect patients with support services so that no woman has to face this alone.
We also staff a nurse educator who teaches breast health education classes in the community and industry and offers community health screenings.
In addition, the Imaging Center also has a Women’s Health Resource Library and a Women’s Education Center.
The ACR, headquartered in Reston, Va., is a national organization that serves more than 32,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists who focus on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology, as well as the delivery of comprehensive healthcare services.
The St. Bernards Outpatient Imaging Center is located at 1144 East Matthews Avenue and sees breast imaging patients from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
The St. Bernards Imaging Center is the only Breast Imaging Center of Excellence in the state of Arkansas.