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CC BY 4.0 · Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 2025; 17(01): 033-040
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1806756
Original Article

Strategy and Measures to Improve Breast Imaging Services at General Facility Hospital

Khawaja Bilal Waheed
1   Radiology Department, King Fahad Military Medical Complex, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
,
Alaa Ali AlMaimouni
1   Radiology Department, King Fahad Military Medical Complex, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
,
Muhammad Zia Ul Hassan
1   Radiology Department, King Fahad Military Medical Complex, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
,
Alexander Woodman 
2   School of Health Sciences, University of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom
,
Lamiaa H. Al-Jamea
3   Department of Medical Laboratory, King Fahad Military Medical Complex, Ministry of Defense Health Services, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
,
Muneera Abdulhameed Albassam
1   Radiology Department, King Fahad Military Medical Complex, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
,
Shayma Abdullah Aloumi
1   Radiology Department, King Fahad Military Medical Complex, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
› Institutsangaben Funding and Sponsorship None.
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Abstract

Background

Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide and is the most common cancer affecting women in Saudi Arabia. This research aims to highlight the strategy and measures needed to improve breast imaging services focusing on imaging justification, optimization, acquisition, and interpretation.

Patients and Methods

The Find, Organize, Clarify, Understand, Select – Plan, Do, Check, Act (FOCUS-PDCA) methodology of quality improvement was adopted. In phase one, identification of deficiencies or problems was made by evaluating imaging requests, time management, workforce, and resource utilization between 2015 and 2017 (3 years). These were presented on a fishbone diagram. Optimization of services was made by appointing or training reliable breast imaging staff. The action plan and changes were subsequently implemented and their effects, in terms of improvement in justified imaging requests, increase in the number of screening studies, imaging acquisition, reporting by specialists, and adherence to a standard Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System mammography reporting format, were evaluated from 2018 till the end of 2021.

Results

Total mammographic studies almost doubled in a year (from an average of 225 per annum in preintervention years to 443 exams postintervention), in which mammography screening studies increased three times in the postintervention period. Breast imaging referrals were streamlined primarily under primary care physicians and breast surgeons, with more than double referrals for the screening studies. Standard reporting was achieved in more than 90% of studies compared to 60% initially.

Conclusion

Breast imaging services can be improved by promoting awareness and education to patients and primary physicians, streamlining imaging requests, properly utilizing time and resources, ensuring imaging acquisition, and interpretation by specialists.

Keywords

breast cancer - screening - imaging - quality assessment - fishbone diagram - FOCUS-PDCA

Data Availability Statement

Data associated with the research will be provided upon reasonable request from the authors.


Authors' Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by K.B.W., A.A.G.A., S.A.A., and M.Z.U.H. The first draft of the manuscript was written by K.B.W., A.W., L.H.A.-J., M.A.A. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.


Compliance with Ethical Principles

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.




Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
31. März 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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