Texas County Memorial Hospital’s mammography department has received a “zero deficiency” rating from the Mammogram Quality Standards Act (MQSA) for mammography done by the radiology department for the 25th straight year.
The MQSA requires mammography facilities across the nation to meet uniform quality standards. Congress passed this law in 1992 to assure high-quality mammography for early breast cancer detection, which can lead to early treatment, a range of treatment options leading to an increased chance of survival.
TCMH is a certified mammography site that offers 3D tomosynthesis mammography. To maintain this recognition, the hospital must follow MQSA and American College of Radiology (ACR) mammography guidelines. The mammography department has an annual on-site inspection for the federal and state and maintains ACR certification every three years.
The mammography technologists, interpreting radiologist and physicist are required to have mammography-specific continuing education annually. Quality assurance testing is performed on the equipment daily, weekly, quarterly and semi-annual, and the medical physicist performs an annual review of the mammography unit.
Ann Hamilton, radiology department director at the hospital, noted that 25 years with a flawless rating in the state and federal survey is “virtually unheard of.”
Hamilton complimented Terri Bailey, a quality control mammography technologist, who entered this role in 1997, the same year she endured and survived her first on-site MQSA survey.
“Terri is very detailed oriented and maintains meticulous records as she compiles quality assurance data daily, weekly, quarterly and semi-annually,” Hamilton said. ‘She is the main reason we continue to receive excellent ratings.”