Breast cancer screening results available in patients' medical file - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Saúde e Segurança Social

The integration of breast screening into the Regional Directorate for Health system has been completed. This project, within the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), represented an investment of about 50 thousand Euros. According to the Secretary of Health and Social Security, it allows "the results of breast cancer screening tests to be stored in a single database."

"Mammograms are sent immediately to the regional imaging database and are automatically accessible to all the Regional Health Service institutions," emphasised Mónica Seidi.

She continued:  "This means that general practitioners will have access to the tests carried out in the mobile screening unit, without the need to store them on CD, for example, and the information can be accessed at any time."

This database, known as VNA - Vender Neutral Archive - is a single database that works on all the Regional Health Service devices. With the project now completed, the results of the tests conducted on the mobile breast screening caravans (ROCMA) will be automatically integrated into the network and database of the Azores Oncology Centre and the Regional Health Service.

This is done by sending mammograms in real time so that the results of the tests carried out as part of the mobile screening can be immediately uploaded to the regional imaging database. They will be accessible to the entire Regional Health Service, avoiding CD recordings and delays in uploading and accessing these tests for patients and professionals.

The mobile units are now networked to the Regional Health Service, for which a secure health information system has been created. This implementation allows access to the screenings carried out by general practitioners and specialist doctors throughout the Regional Health Service immediately and securely at any network point.

Mónica Seidi added that "this minimises the risk of exams being lost."

"There is reduced manual work and improved computer security in storing health data. It also allows us to standardise and reduce costs by maintaining autonomous filing systems. As such, everything is integrated into the same image file of the Regional Health Service, i.e, we save time and achieve gains in security and efficiency," she said.

The Secretary for Health and Social Security added that this project "complements other investments already made by the Government in implementation of the strategy for a Regional Health Service capable of providing better care to its users, such as the acquisition of the new mammography machine purchased for the Oncology Centre under the RRP, replacing the previous one that was over 20 years. A new mobile unit was also purchased, an opportunity that emerged with the RRP reprogramming."