GIRLS ON FILM
OZARKS HEALTHCARE INVESTS IN NEW DIGITAL MAMMOGRAPHY
BY DWAIN HEBDA | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON MASTERS T
he new expansion at Ozarks Healthcare is more than just fresh paint and coor- dinated exam rooms. It’s also home to new medical technology that improves
outcomes and the patient experience. Nowhere is that fact more evident than with the hospital’s new digital mammography equipment, which not only delivers a higher degree of detail, but it also allows women to complete this critical screen- ing in less time and with less discomfort. “Those mammograms are so important,” said
Michelle Haney, patient navigator. “As we’ve reached out to remind women about their screenings, we tell them we have the 3D mammogram screening now and they’re really excited about it. They feel very re- assured, very confident and they’re very happy that they don’t have to travel outside of West Plains to have access to that.” The technology, which is fast becoming the in-
dustry standard, improves upon previous mammog- raphy technology in several ways, starting with the complexity of the images. “The easiest way to understand it is to think
of your breast as a cake,” said Glenda Kentner, chief mammographer who's been with Ozarks Healthcare for 30 years. “With regular mammog- raphy, you see a little spot, like a little area on the icing. What 3D does is it takes off that top layer of
30 | OZARKS HEALTHCARE | SUMMER 2022
icing and you can see under it. Then, if you need to look further, you can see under that. It goes in mil- limeters and it goes all the way through the breast, taking one little layer off at a time.” The new imaging technology is also more accu-
rate when reading denser breast tissue, as is typ- ical in younger women. This is changing the de- cades-old school of medical thought about who’s really at risk of breast cancer. “We’re finding cancer in women younger and
younger,” said Laurie Birchfield, Imaging Director. “I think that’s the biggest impact I’ve seen, and I’ve been dealing with 3D mammography for probably the last eight years. With younger women, you can’t always feel those knots until we get them on the 3D. With this technology, we can see through the dense tissue that we couldn’t see with digital mammography on its own, so we’re picking it up sooner, which is better.” The new technology also performs its task in a way
that’s less stressful on the patient, Kentner said. “Everything that we do is more advanced,” she
said. “We usually do two projections per picture, which the ladies seem to find very easy to do. Before, we had some say, ‘I just can’t hold my breath and stay still that long.’ As of yet, we’ve not had that problem while getting these images.” The two digital mammography units also feature
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