st. mary's breast health center

ATHENS, Ga. — St. Mary’s Breast Health Center has recently been recognized as a Certified Quality Breast Center of Excellence in the National Quality Measures for Breast Centers Program.This distinguished honor represents a commitment by this breast center to provide the highest level of quality breast health care to patients in their community.

Measuring and comparing quality performance is essential in assessing patient care and allocating resources where improvement is desired. In today’s dynamic health care industry, breast centers are faced with providing quality care while simultaneously keeping costs under control. A center’s staff must not only be familiar with existing standards of care, but must also be aware of new advances in technology. St. Mary’s Breast Health Center has taken a major step to ensure they provide the best possible quality care to breast patients in their community.

The goal of St. Mary’s Breast Health Center is to treat every patient with compassionate, comprehensive care using the latest technologies available. The center offers prevention counseling, routine screening, diagnostic imaging, high-risk counseling, genetic counseling and testing, and medical, radiographic and surgical treatment. Medical director, Dr. Kathleen Jeffery, is the first female surgeon in the Athens area to dedicate her practice solely to breast health. In addition, the center includes a nurse navigator and on-site 3D mammography services.

The National Consortium of Breast Centers is proud to recognize St. Mary’s Breast Health Center as a Certified Quality Breast Center of Excellence.St. Mary’s Breast Health Center will continue in its commitment to provide the highest quality care to its patients and work on keeping up a Certified Quality Breast Center of Excellence.

The National Quality Measures for Breast Centers were developed by referencing the Health Care Advisory Board’s Clinical Quality Dashboard for breast centers published in the fall of 2004. The National Quality Measures for Breast Centers™ reflect more than 11 years of work, which has culminated in the adoption of more than 33 National Quality Indicators.

The National Consortium of Breast Centers promotes excellence in breast health care for the general public through a network of diverse professionals dedicated to the active exchange of ideas and resources. It serves as an informational resource and provides support services to those rendering care to people with breast diseases through educational programs, newsletters, a national directory and patient forums. It encourages professionals to concentrate and specialize in activities related to breast disease and encourages the development of programs and centers that address breast disease and promote breast health. It facilitates collaborative research opportunities on issues of breast health; and developed a set of core measures to define, improve and sustain quality standards in breast health care programs and for quality performance in all types of breast health care facilities.