Samuelson Breast Care Center Receives American College of Radiology Accreditation

The mammographic imaging services at the Herman & Walter Samuelson Breast Care Center at Northwest Hospital have been awarded accreditation as the result of a recent survey by the American College of Radiology (ACR). Northwest’s first digital mammography unit received accreditation in December 2007 and its second in January 2009. The new accreditation covers both units until April 15, 2013. The Samuelson Breast Care Center has received accreditation from the ACR ever since the organization started awarding this distinction for mammography (then film-based) in 1992.

The Herman & Walter Samuelson Breast Care Center is part of LifeBridge Health’s Alvin & Lois Lapidus Cancer Institute. Last June, the Samuelson Breast Care Center moved to a new, spa-like environment near Northwest Hospital’s main entrance; and in July, breast surgeon Dawn Leonard, M.D., became the center’s medical director.

All of the center’s mammography technology is digital. And as a certified Softer Mammogram Provider, it is one of only a few breast centers in the Baltimore area offering women a free MammoPad®, an FDA-cleared, warmed, foam cushion that dramatically eases the discomfort many women feel when they get a mammogram.

In addition to housing digital mammography services, the Samuelson Breast Care Center is a comprehensive breast center that offers medical services such as breast ultrasound, bone densitometry, and breast cancer diagnosis and treatment including a multidisciplinary approach. The new ACR accreditation continues the center’s exceptional record of providing quality care with leading-edge technology.

The ACR, headquartered in Reston, Va., awards accreditation to facilities for the achievement of high practice standards after a peer-review evaluation of the practice. Evaluations are conducted by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. They assess the qualifications of the personnel and the adequacy of facility equipment. The surveyors report their findings to the ACR’s Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report.