Mammography's Perfect Score
Dr. Tahira Ahmed, Chief of Mammography, discusses the results of a mammogram with a woman Veteran.
Once a year, Food and Drug Administration inspectors examine the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center’s mammography service. They look at everything you could imagine. They scour records for quality control logs and physicist testing, ensure all technologists and the radiologist are up to par with their mammography skills and Continuing Medical Education. They determine if there is a system in place to ensure that technologists are taking the best images possible and that patients are notified of all results in a timely fashion with a letter they can understand.
Federal mandates require all mammography centers to pass an FDA inspection annually. Most facilities always have one or two areas to remediate; it is uncommon to have a perfect score. Yet for three years in a row, since its inception, the Mammography Section has earned a perfect score.
According to Dr. Tahira Ahmed, Chief of Mammography, these perfect scores epitomize the medical center’s commitment to providing women Veterans with the best care possible using state-of-the-art equipment and technology.
Dr. Ahmed takes pride in the program and how the medical center offers both 2-D (conventional) and 3-D (Tomosynthesis) X-ray mammography and quick same-day results. “By the time a patient leaves the Women’s Health Clinic, she can know the results of her mammogram.”
Getting mammograms on a regular basis is an effective way to detect breast cancer in its early stages. Women should speak to their health care providers about risk factors and how often they should have a mammogram. For more information or to schedule a mammogram, women Veterans may call the Women’s Health Clinic at 202-745-8582.
