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Akron General's expanded Breast Health Center aims to provide faster diagnosis and access to treatment
By Cheryl Powell
Beacon Journal medical writer
Published on Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Days can feel like weeks or months when a woman is waiting to find out whether that lump in her breast or spot on her mammogram is cancerous.
Akron General Medical Center is trying to provide a quicker answer — and faster access to treatment when a woman's fears come true and breast cancer is diagnosed.
This month, Akron General unveiled an expanded, renovated Breast Health Center in its outpatient facility on the hospital campus near downtown Akron.
The nonprofit hospital's foundation provided $1.1 million for the project.
The expansion effort tripled the number of exam rooms from two to six and transformed the unit from a sterile-looking hospital setting to a cozy, homelike environment, with a kitchen and a family room-style waiting area featuring a flat-screen TV and fireplace.
The remodeled Breast Health Center is the latest step in Akron General's effort to provide a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to providing a fast-track diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer.
In 2005, the hospital created the Breast Health Center to bring together services from a team of surgeons, radiologists, oncologists, pathologists and other experts in breast cancer, including a nurse navigator to help coordinate care and answer patients' questions.
The renovated center includes a state-of-the-art conference room, where team members can review each case weekly.
The center also provides patients
access to clinical trials when appropriate.
Before Akron General launched the initiative, the average time to diagnosis after a patient sought follow-up for an abnormal mammogram or a lump in the breast was four to six weeks, said Dr. Andrew Fenton, medical director of the Akron General McDowell Cancer Center.
''We wanted to improve the process,'' Fenton said. ''That's too long for someone with an abnormal mammogram.''
The Breast Health Center's average wait now ''to have a diagnosis and get on with treatment'' after a problem is discovered is 10 to 12 days, Fenton said.
Patients with a potential problem on a diagnostic mammogram or ultrasound performed at the center often can have a biopsy there the next day if they opt for the first available affiliated physician, Fenton said.
''The biggest thing is an awareness of trying to make the diagnosis as efficient as possible,'' he said.
Stressful time
As the breast center coordinator, registered nurse Kathy Lukity schedules appointments, follows up with the patients and provides around-the-clock access to answer their questions.
''My role is to help work through this,'' she said. ''It's really stressful, the minute you find a spot on a mammogram. I track the patient's results. If breast cancer is the diagnosis for a patient, I'm kind of a point person for that.''
When Susan Moran, 51, of Cuyahoga Falls discovered a lump in her breast three years ago, her family doctor referred her to the Akron General Breast Health Center.
Because she had recently gone through a divorce, Moran had no health insurance at the time. But the center provided a free mammogram through a charity program.
By the following week, she had a diagnostic mammogram and biopsy, which confirmed she had breast cancer.
Since then, she said, Lukity and the rest of the staff have helped make sure she gets the treatment and follow-up care she needs.
When she discovered another lump in her breast, she said, a surgeon performed a biopsy the same day to determine the mass was not cancerous. And when she turned 50, the staff even baked her a birthday cake to celebrate.
''They are so sweet over there,'' she said. ''They call and check on me all the time to see how I'm doing.''
Medina's Jones Center
Akron General's center is among several local initiatives to provide anxious women who might have breast cancer with quick answers in a comfortable environment.
Medina General Hospital, for example, used a $500,000 gift from a man who lost his mother and wife to breast cancer to open a breast and imaging center with a more homelike feel than typical hospital units.
The Medina County hospital's Jones Center features oak woodwork, oversize chairs, a private changing area and terry-cloth robes or wraparound tops to cover up, rather than the hospital gowns of old.
Before the center opened in 2003, patients had to go to the hospital's X-ray department for mammograms, another area of the hospital for ultrasound and an outpatient clinic for biopsies.
If a diagnostic mammogram shows a problem, a follow-up ultrasound can usually be done in the center the same day, rather than forcing women through an agonizing wait for another appointment. Biopsies also are offered on-site when needed.
Summa outpatient site
Likewise, Summa Health System in Akron started a breast center at Akron City Hospital in 2003.
The center provides screening and diagnostic mammograms, ultrasounds and biopsies, said Heidi Eve-Cahoon, breast-care coordinator for Summa.
A team of radiologists is available every Wednesday to provide quicker access to biopsies when needed, Eve-Cahoon said.
The average time from screening to diagnosis for breast cancer patients at Summa is about 25 days, according to a spokeswoman.
When facing a possible breast cancer diagnosis, patients need to make sure they ask about all the evidence behind their treatment options, said Carol Matyka, a volunteer field coordinator in Massachusetts and active member of the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
Women should seek second opinions and make sure they feel comfortable with the treatments they select, Matyka said.
The advocacy group offers a free Guide to Quality Breast Cancer Care on its Web site, http://www.stopbreastcancer.org.
''It's different for everybody,'' Matyka said. ''Certainly, you should be comfortable that you can ask your provider questions and your provider listens to you.''
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or chpowell@thebeaconjournal.com.
Days can feel like weeks or months when a woman is waiting to find out whether that lump in her breast or spot on her mammogram is cancerous.
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