BREAST program for more skilful workforce
An innovative online training tool could improve the accreditation and training program for mammography reading across NSW.
In an exciting development for the field, Associate Professor
Warwick Lee from BreastScreen NSW and Professor Patrick
Brennan from the University of Sydney and their team have developed
a new way to assess the performance of radiologists and breast
physicians who read mammograms for BreastScreen NSW.
The BreastScreen Reader Assessment Strategy (BREAST) is based on
digital screen reading test sets. The screen reading test sets have
been used to measure reading performance internationally, in some
countries for more than 20 years. The program is based
online and provides immediate feedback to individual readers and
BreastScreen Screening and Assessment Services.
BREAST will allow more timely
identification of performance issues and ensure we can maintain a
high standard.
As Warwick recalls, the program began after a presentation at
the Breast Imaging Meeting of the Royal Australian and New Zealand
College of Radiologists in 2009.
"We ran a screen reading test set where we used digital images
but the test was paper based," Warwick says. "It was very
successful and subsequently we have received $30,000 from the
college to pilot BREAST at the meeting in Hobart in February this
year."
More than 125 readers successfully participated in the BREAST
pilot program and the program has since been funded by the
Department of Health and Ageing until 2013.
It will initially be rolled out to all BreastScreen NSW
Screening and Assessment Services and then to services in other
states and territories. Currently, readers are required to complete
a screen reading test every three years, however Warwick hopes
the new program will make it easier for them to continue to refine
their skills.
He expects readers for BreastScreen NSW will eventually
participate in the screen read test annually.
"The program provides an efficient way of providing feedback and
fits well with quality assurance," he said.
"Traditionally clinical audit has been used as a quality
improvement tool. Such audit is very important but it is slow to
identify quality issues because of the low prevalence of cancer in
the screening population. BREAST will allow more timely
identification of performance issues and ensure we can maintain a
high standard."
Warwick says there are a number of promising things about the
BREAST program.
"BREAST can also be used as a valuable training and self
assessment tool, which has potential to facilitate the introduction
of new readers, including non-radiologist readers. This is
particularly important, as we need more readers to be able to deal
with the increasing number of women being screened."
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