Based in central Iowa, GRACE Breast Imaging and Medical Spa is the only woman-owned and operated breast imaging facility in the state. When designing their practice, Dr. Rachel Preisser, MD and Dr. Andrea Lamphiear, MD, reflected on their own personal experiences to create a safe and serene space for women in underserved communities to receive care.
This innovative space is further complemented by state-of-the-art mammography technology to create a truly unforgettable women’s health facility.
Education Meets Self-Care
Most breast cancer screening services are federally protected under the Affordable Care Act, meaning they’re covered 100% by insurance, yet many women are not up to date with their mammograms. Several barriers can have an impact on getting access to healthcare; for example, women are less likely to get a mammogram if they feel socially isolated, have lost a job or don’t have reliable transportation. A recent study found that only about 65% of women over the age of 40 are screened for breast cancer and only half of those women are getting annual screenings.
With more than three decades of radiology experience between them, Dr. Preisser and Dr. Lamphiear have a passion for educating young women about their health risks and consistently emphasize the importance of early screening.
“When we find cancer in its earliest stage, like stage zero or stage one, it’s very treatable,” said Dr. Preisser. “And the treatment that we recommend is easier to go through for the patient, is less expensive and more successful.”
Hoping to ease patient anxiety, Preisser, Lamphiear and their team designed the GRACE Imaging facility with a soft interior to encourage more young women to visit. Patients are able to reframe mammograms as acts of self-care rather than clinical obligations.
To that end, perhaps the most integral piece of GRACE Breast Imaging is its full-service spa, offering customized facials, chemical peels, dermaplaning and lash and brow lifts and tints. Mammograms become a way to pamper oneself, an appointment to look forward to rather than to delay or dread.
A Brilliant Decision
To fulfill their mission of enriching the health and well-being of their community, the GRACE team was faced with a crucial decision: selecting the right mammogram platform to invest in. That’s when Cassling introduced them to Siemens Healthineers’s MAMMOMAT B.brilliant system, whose sharp, high-quality images immediately caught their attention.
It took just a few seconds of seeing the images and realizing that this was something different,” said Dr. Preisser. “It’s something that is going to change the way we’re able to look at breast tissue.”
GRACE Breast Imaging became the first clinic in the nation to install the Siemens MAMMOMAT B.brilliant wide-angle tomosynthesis mammography system.
“Just when you walk in and look at it – it’s beautiful and has a glow behind it,” said Dr. Lamphiear. “People may think that’s superficial or silly, but when your mental status is relaxed and calm, the experience that you go through is going to be better.”
MAMMOMAT B.brilliant Specs
- The system’s 50° Wide-Angle tomosynthesis in 5 seconds1,2 is designed to be the fastest tomo exam and highest in-depth resolution.3
- Titanium Contrast-Enhanced Mammography (TiCEM) allows for fast identification of potential cancers and rules out inconclusive lesions.
- PRIME (Progressive Reconstruction, Intelligently Minimizing Exposure) Technology reduces the dose considerably without compromising image quality compared to grid-based acquisition using the same system.
“I don’t think there’s any way I would ever consider going back,” said Dr. Lamphiear. “I don’t think I could even do it ethically to my patients and I want to be able to see what I see with the B.brilliant.”
The team also praised the system’s quick image processing time, which is cut in half compared to other systems they’ve used. With this advantage, technologists can shift their focus to providing a calming and personalized experience.
“We can actually talk to the patient and make them feel like a patient, not a number,” said Megan Peterson, MHA, R.T., GRACE Breast Imaging’s lead mammographer.
Cassling is proud to support organizations like GRACE Breast Imaging and Medical Spa, which blend compassion with innovation to deliver the best care to their patients.
To learn more about GRACE Breast Imaging and Medical Spa, visit https://www.graceimagingandspa.com/
To learn more about the MAMMOMAT B.brilliant, visit https://www.cassling.com/products-and-solutions/imaging/mammography/mammomat-b-brilliant.
1 White paper: Fieselman et al. (2013): Physic of Medical Imaging
2 For average breast size of 5 cm, 50/50 % glandular/adipose tissue
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