Radiology practice resumes mammography after prior suspension
A Raleigh, North Carolina-based radiology practice that was forced to shut down its mammography unit is back up and running again.
Last December, Raleigh Radiology Blue Ridge halted its breast imaging exams after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and American College of Radiology discovered quality issues in a subset of scans and revoked its mammography accreditation.
According to the institution’s website, it has since completed the necessary corrective action plan to remedy the issue and has received a go-ahead to begin performing such exams again.
The facility said it is “extremely sorry for any distress or inconvenience this matter has caused” and detailed how the incident unfolded on their site.
Prior to any FDA review, a clerical error at the Blue Ridge office resulted in improper accreditation at one of its mammography units. This mistake prompted the ACR to perform a quality review of a small number of mammography images at the location. The inspection found “significant” problems with the breast positioning in one image set. And because that issue was not properly documented, the ACR recommended Blue Ridge stop performing such exams.
During that period of time, the office was still performing other imaging exams and noted that its mistakes did not result in any missed cancer or diseases.
Blue Ridge notified all patients who received a mammogram between the period in-question and have created a hotline for patients to call regarding their concerns.
“We understand many feel we have not been transparent or that we have not provided information when it was requested,” a statement on their website read. “At Raleigh Radiology, we are committed to serving our community by offering state-of-the-art imaging services and straight from the heart care.”
Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.