HOULTON, Maine — Houlton Regional Hospital’s Radiology Department had its yearly Mammography Quality Stands Act inspection on July 22.
The hospital’s radiology manager, Sue Mclaughlin, announced that the department passed the annual inspection with flying colors, receiving zero deficiencies.
MQSA was enacted by the United States Congress to enhance the quality of mammography and guarantee that all American women have access to mammograms that meet universal standards. Facilities performing mammography must also be certified by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), which is overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Shawn Anderson, CEO of HRH, said, “I couldn’t be more pleased about this flawless MQSA survey. It is a testimony to the diligent and exceptional efforts of our dedicated staff in Houlton Regional’s imaging department. We couldn’t be more proud.”
McLaughlin, who has been part of the department for 35 years and manager for the past 24 years, described the inspection as being a very comprehensive process.
“The inspector reviews the credentials and yearly educational requirements of the physicist that inspects mammography, radiologists that read the mammograms and the technologists that perform the exams; along with the number of places the physicist inspects, number of exams read by each radiologist, and number of exams done by each mammography technologist,” she said.
McLaughlin said all regular quality control tests are verified and reviewed.
“Policy and procedures, logs of equipment service calls and PM’s, logs of inspections of radiologist reading stations, physicist inspection, medical audit, and patient reports are reviewed. Testing of the machine is also performed,” said McLaughlin.
“The inspector also meets with the radiologist, radiology manager and the mammography technologist to ask them questions around the quality of the images taken.”
Mclaughlin said mammography technologist, Rachel Sucy, was instrumental in this year’s successful inspection.
“Rachel is a recent graduate and has been employed at HRH for over a year. She became board certified in mammography last October. This was her first inspection.”
