HDMC News & Press Releases

Hi-Desert Medical Center mammography service receives reaccreditation

The Hi-Desert Medical Center's Airway Outpatient Center was awarded a three-year term of reaccreditation as the result of a recent mammography survey by the American College of Radiology.  The Center in Yucca Valley was surveyed by the Committee on Mammography Accreditation of the Commission on Quality and Safety and has completed the requirements of the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) as authorized to perform mammography examinations.

The MQSA was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1994 to regulate the quality of care in mammography.  It requires mammography facilities across the nation to meet uniform quality standards.  Under the law, all mammography facilities must: 1) be accredited by an FDA-approved accreditation body (HDMC is accredited by the American College of Radiology); 2) be certified by FDA or its state as meeting the standards; 3) undergo an annual MQSA inspection; and 4) prominently display the certificate issued by the agency.

According to Alice Antone, director of HDMC's medical imaging, the surveyors conducted a rigorous inspection.  "The staff and radiologists within the medical imaging department and Airway Outpatient Center are dedicated in their commitment to providing excellent patient care, and this was clearly evident in the surveyors' findings," said Antone.