At MemorialCare, a leading healthcare provider, excellence in breast imaging is a steadfast commitment. MemorialCare was one of only six sites chosen from 200 applicants for the first cohort of the ACR Mammography Positioning Improvement Collaborative. This selection was a testament to their dedication to quality improvement, backed by their use of Volpara Analytics, strong executive support, and a commitment to serving a diverse patient population.
A Collaborative Commitment to Excellence
The ACR collaborative aimed to standardize mammography positioning, evaluation, and monitoring to meet ACR criteria consistently. MemorialCare’s team of radiologists, technologists, executive sponsors, and a quality coach were all actively involved in this rigorous initiative. The process required manual and subjective image reviews by independent radiologists, with data painstakingly recorded in spreadsheets—a time-consuming effort totaling around 140 hours per month.
Despite the challenges, MemorialCare thrived in the collaborative, engaging fully and sharing best practices with peers. “It was nice to know it wasn’t just us with an IMF problem,” said Bree Hysjulien, Breast Center Supervisor, reflecting on the value of the supportive community that formed among the sites.
A team that improves together
Not only did MemorialCare demonstrate an improvement in their overall quality while participating in the collaborative, they also demonstrated less variation between their technologists. Meeting one of the core goals the collaborative set out to achieve – improving consistency. This means that patients can expect the same high-level of care no matter the technologist imaging them at MemorialCare.
MemorialCare Technologists improved their ACR metrics met % from Month One (Avg 92%) to Month Six (96%) and reduced the range of scores by 20% at the same time.
Sustaining a Culture of Quality with AI
When the collaborative ended, MemorialCare was determined to continue their quality improvement efforts but needed a more sustainable approach. Enter Volpara Analytics: with its advanced AI capabilities, MemorialCare transformed their manual process into a streamlined, data-driven system. Volpara Analytics automatically assess positioning and compression quality on every single mammogram and presents easy to understand insights on personalized dashboards. They introduced a weekly “Essentials Board,” displaying key performance metrics and monthly reporting to the executive team. What had taken Bree about 35 hours manually was cut down to an hour and then further consultation with Volpara uncovered dashboard features to cut this time even further.
Bree noted the impact of these changes, saying, “Just used the performance at a glance to do my updates for positioning quality, and it’s a game changer! So much easier to use and cuts down on my time needed to update the essentials board.”
Analytics also enabled the team to track engagement, and automated reports highlighting top performers and improvers in positioning and compression, encouraging a culture of excellence through monthly recognition and rewards.
The data is not only easy to collect but it’s demonstrating their ongoing commitment. In the last year, MemorialCare Long Beach has demonstrated a further 13% increase in their quality with the team reaching the Volpara benchmarked global median for quality. (A database of over 3 million images and 2000+ technologists)
The Power of AI in Maintaining Focus on Quality
MemorialCare’s experience illustrates the power of AI in healthcare. Volpara Analytics enabled them to keep their eyes on their quality goals without distracting from their critical work. By automating time-consuming tasks, MemorialCare can continue to deliver exceptional care while constantly improving their processes.
With the right tools and commitment, any healthcare provider can achieve remarkable improvements in quality and consistency, just like MemorialCare. Volpara Analytics proves that when you combine a dedication to quality with the power of AI, the possibilities are limitless.
