St. Mary's Breast Health Center recognized for quality by NQMBC
September 24, 2023St. 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™ (NQMBC™). This recognition represents a commitment by this breast center to provide the highest level of quality breast health care to patients in their community. This level of certification in the NQMBC™ Program is valid for one year.
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 actively ensures they provide the best possible quality care to breast patients in their community.
St. Mary’s Breast Health Center has achieved dual certification with NAPBC and NQMBC. Certification is a rigorous endeavor that carries high distinction in being the only breast center in the region with this dual certification. St. Mary’s Breast Health Center provides compassionate, high-quality care for patients with breast cancer and other breast health needs.
The freestanding center features Dr. Kathleen Jeffery – the region’s first female surgeon dedicated entirely to breast care – as well as a certified breast health nurse navigator and other skilled and caring staff. They provide preventive and high-risk counseling, screening and diagnostic imaging, genetic counseling and testing, and medical, radiographic and surgical treatment.
St. Mary’s Breast Health Center is located at 1500 Oglethorpe Ave., Suite 2000, Athens Ga., 30606. To learn more, call (706) 425-5437.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Launched in April of 2005 and now used in 45 states, the NQMBC program offers facilities providing breast health care the ability to track and measure breast center performance in over 40 individual quality indicators.
According to NQMBC™, the most compelling component of its program is the ability of participants to enter their data and immediately compare their performance with other participating breast centers across the country.
Centers may also compare themselves with centers like their own, their size, their location, the numbers of mammograms or cancers seen per year as well as other variables. Participants use these comparison reports to identify where quality care already exists and where quality care improvement opportunities exist. The NCBC facility membership allows participation in the NQMBC program without any additional cost.
For more information regarding the NQMBC™ Program, visit www.breastcare.org.
National Consortium of Breast Centers, Inc.
1017 East Winona Ave Warsaw, IN 46580
Voice: 574-267-8058 Fax: 574-267-8268
ncbc@breastcare.org