Now, keep up to date
with daily feeds of newly posted stories
about America's Seniors...click on the box
to the left
UVA
Health System and The Health Wagon providing
free Mammograms, access to follow-up care
for underserved Women
Newswise — At 7:30 a.m. on
December 5, nearly four dozen women living
in one of the most rural areas of Virginia
will begin arriving for appointments at a
state-of-the-art medical facility – the
Commonwealth’s only mobile digital
mammography van, which is operated by the
University of Virginia Health System.
Tomorrow’s breast health
clinic, which is being held at The Health
Wagon in Clinchco, will mark the latest step
in UVA’s wide-ranging initiative to create
sustainable health care solutions for
uninsured and medically underserved
residents of far southwest Virginia.
The clinic, which is being
made possible by a partnership with The
Health Wagon and the Virginia Department of
Health’s Every Women’s Life program, is
unique in that it offers free screenings and
will provide state-supported follow-up care
to uninsured patients who need it.
Funding for the clinic –
which will be conducted at several other
locations in 2009 – comes from several
sources including a grant from the Health
Resource Service Administration announced in
October by U.S. Representative Rick Boucher
of Virginia’s Ninth Congressional District.
“Access to adequate breast
care is often extremely difficult for women
living in our area,” says Teresa Gardner,
NP, executive director of The Health Wagon.
“Many are uninsured or underinsured, have
low incomes, don’t have close access to
health care or don’t have the means to drive
long distances to visit their nearest
provider. This clinic will provide such
women with the care they likely wouldn’t get
otherwise.”
Many women in rural
Appalachia must travel long distances to
receive breast care, yet national studies
show that a majority of women in the U.S.
are not willing or are unable to drive more
than 20 miles to get a mammogram.
“This obstacle is further
compounded by the paucity of subspecialty
care in the Coalfields region,” says Karen
Rheuban, medical director of the Office of
Telemedicine and an associate dean and
professor in the UVA School of Medicine.
“UVA Telemedicine has teamed up with our
Health System’s Cancer Center and Department
of Radiology to offer screenings close to
where these women live. The program also
will ensure they receive follow-up care as
nearby as possible.”
In an effort to provide
clinic patients faster mammography results,
the UVA Office of Telemedicine has equipped
the mobile digital mammography van with a
Proxy AutoConfig (PAC) server. This will
allow X-ray technicians and mammographers to
rapidly transmit the digital images from UVA
telemedicine sites, like The Health Wagon,
to radiologists at the Health System, who
can then get screening results back to
patients promptly.
An added obstacle in doing
cancer screenings in remote geographic areas
involves the follow-up care with patients.
“It’s not very helpful
for patients to get a mammogram if they have
no ability to pay when further care is
needed,” says Gardner.
That’s where The Virginia
Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection
Program (BCCEDP), also known as Every
Woman's Life, comes into play.
The state-supported program
will provide funding for clinic patients to
get further diagnostic screening and
follow-up services if needed.
Mortality rates from breast
and other forms of cancer are a significant
issue in far southwest Virginia.
An important part of
addressing this problem involves early
detection, because studies show mortality
rates tend to decline when breast cancers
are caught in earlier stages.
For women without
access to health care, however, early
detection is nearly impossible.
The UVA Cancer Center is
dedicated to a comprehensive program of
cancer control in this area of the state,
including education, prevention, early
detection and access to the latest care.
Efforts are ongoing to
improve prevention, screening and early
detection of breast and cervical cancers.
“The ability to screen for
and diagnose breast cancer in the early
stages is essential in the fight against
this devastating disease,” says Congressman
Boucher.
“For several years, I have
worked with the UVA Office of Telemedicine
and local communities to secure federal
funds to establish telemedicine sites and
purchase mobile equipment so that residents
in our area can avoid the time and expense
associated with travel to a distant medical
center for such screenings.”
... ..
...
...