UCSF Launches ‘Mammovan’ To Improve Access to Breast Cancer Screenings for Lower-Income Area Patients
The University of California-San Francisco has launched a new $1 million mammography van to provide breast cancer screenings to low-income area patients without access to the services, the San Francisco Examiner reports. The "Mammovan," a 40-foot-long semi truck, contains a digital mammography machine, changing room, couch and receptionist's desk. The van, which has a "state-of-the-art" mammography machine that allows technicians to screen as many as six women per hour, rather than the standard four, provides 30 free mammograms per day. In addition, the van allows technicians to "instantly" transmit digital images from the mammograms to off-site radiologists, who examine the images in 24 to 48 hours, the Examiner reports. In cases where radiologists detect abnormalities in the mammograms, clinic doctors immediately inform patients. Patients receive a written report in two to three days in other cases, the Examiner reports. UCSF hopes that the van will decrease the number of patients on the waiting list for breast cancer screenings at San Francisco General Hospital, where patients often must wait five months to receive a mammogram (Sanders, San Francisco Examiner, 7/22).
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