From the July 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


“Patients needing more extensive assistance and information typically are in the early stages of imaging, which can be more confusing,” Imel says. “The navigator has direct contact with them and builds a relationship with our patient.” They have also been finding two to three times more cancer with the additional test, for which they use GE Healthcare’s Discovery NM 750b molecular breast imaging system. Imel says they decided to go with molecular breast imaging instead of ultrasound or MRI because both create thousands of images, making the process time consuming and labor intensive for the radiologist, and because they find it leads to more false positives.

“We looked at the literature and decided that was the best,” Imel says. Automated whole breast ultrasound did receive a boost earlier this year, with reimbursement code changes. There used to be only one code for ultrasound reimbursement, and doctors were doubling their professional fee to read the exams. But the language of the Current Procedural Terminology code was changed in January to create two codes — one for “limited,” representing the targeted hand-held ultrasound, and one for “complete,” more in line with supporting the whole breast ultrasound scanning, provided by systems such as Siemens’ ACUSON Automated breast volume scanner, says Ernie Liu, product manager for women’s health at Siemens. “Oftentimes it’s cut, cut, cut, so this is refreshing,” Liu says.


Measuring density
The breast density determination at Marion General Hospital is currently based on the radiologist’s observation, though the facility is planning to start using Philips Healthcare’s Spectral Breast Density Measurement Application, which received FDA approval for use with their MicroDose SI full-field digital mammography system in December 2013. The application uses photon-counting technology to acquire spectral data of the adipose and fibroglandular tissue within a single exposure of a low-dose mammogram.

In March, Philips announced a study, in collaboration with researchers at the University of California, Irvine, to examine how spectral breast imaging can improve breast density measurement, potentially helping clinicians more accurately gauge breast cancer risks and monitor changes over time.

“Through this study, UC Irvine and Philips are looking to set an industry standard for objectively measuring breast density. While this doesn’t exist today, it will be increasingly critical as we move toward further personalizing breast cancer screening, and enabling patients to become more engaged in their own care,” said Gene Saragnese, CEO of imaging for Philips, in a statement announcing the collaboration.

July 2015 Magazine

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