Mammography program put on hold

The Hilo Women’s Imaging Center announced its screening and diagnostic mammography program is on hold until after a site visit by the American College of Radiology on Oct. 27 and 28 in Hilo.

The center lost its accreditation in March before receiving provisional authorization to begin offering mammograms again in May.

But the ACR and the Food and Drug Administration asked the center’s parent company, Hawaii Radiologic Associates, to “submit additional plans for corrective action and called for an on-site survey before the program can be reinstated,” says a statement from Dr. James Lambeth, Hawaii Radiologic Associates president.

The site visit will include a radiologist, a medical physicist and a mammography technologist from the College of Radiology.

“The review team will work with HRA to conduct mammography studies and provide additional training in areas that need strengthening,” Lambeth said.

Ashley Kierkiewicz, a spokesperson for the Women’s Imaging Center, said the center “continues to provide breast ultrasounds, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), bone density tests and breast biopsies.” Patients seeking mammograms are being referred to HRA’s Kona Facility.

“HRA’s Kona facility is fully certified, accredited and remains unaffected,” Kierkiewicz.

It’s unclear how long re-accreditation might take after the site visit.

Kierkiewicz emphasized that neither the College of Radiology nor the Food and Drug Administration directed HRA “to conduct repeat exams on patients who received a mammogram from the Hilo Women’s Imaging Center between May and August, 2016.”

During the spring, the FDA required 12,000 patients be sent certified letters to all of the center’s patients, asking them to check with their doctors about whether they would need a recheck of their mammograms. About 3,100 images were reviewed at the request of patients or their physicians. Of those, 36 needed additional review or repeat images.

Email Jeff Hansel at jhansel@hawaiitribune-herald.com.