Shared decision-making between patients and their physicians has moved front and center in healthcare. Influenced in no small part by access to information on the web, patients are engaged in their healthcare decisions as consumers and are participants in the discussion and planning of their care. These healthcare consumers are overwhelmingly female, found in a 2015 survey conducted by Center for Talent Innovation, where 94% of women make decisions for themselves and 59% make healthcare decisions for others. Women want to know, be involved, and be offered choices in the care they receive.

This paradigm of consumer experience has been integrated into the CMS program of value-based reimbursement, constructed with quality domains that evaluate performance, and patient experience carries a significant weight at 25% of the overall evaluation. The scoring impacts CMS reimbursement and financial incentives paid to providers.

Within breast imaging, the empowerment to understand one's own breast health has been initiated strongly around the dense breast debate, advocating the right for a woman to know her breast density so she, with her physician, can participate in shared decision-making to determine the better course of imaging specific to her breast tissue composition. In today's healthcare environment, a positive patient experience is central in providing excellent patient care. It fosters better outcomes through greater patient satisfaction and increased compliance.

Mammography compliance in the United States is just over fifty percent. In a study from Stanford University Cancer Institute and presented at ASCO in Sept 2014, one-third of respondents were simply not interested in having mammography, possibly due to confusion over the effectiveness of it, the debate regarding age-based imaging, fear of it being painful, and the radiation exposure inherent with the exam.

This is where SoftVue comes in. As a whole breast ultrasound system, SoftVue brings a gentler, safer and softer imaging solution. SoftVue introduces a new approach to imaging the entire breast using sound and water generating 3D-volumetric coronal images. The patient lies on her stomach on a comfort-padded table, with her breast immersed in the imaging chamber filled with warm water. The circular transducer surrounds the breast, but unlike traditional handheld ultrasound and other automated whole breast systems, it does not compress the tissue. The exam is private and discreet, not openly seen during the scanning process and there is no radiation.

Delphinus recently launched the SoftVue Discover Breast Ultrasound Prospective Case Collection project. The goal of the nationwide project is to enroll 10,000 asymptomatic women with dense breast tissue who will receive a SoftVue exam in addition to their annual digital mammogram. Information gathered from the project will compare SoftVue imaging to digital mammography to determine the effectiveness of detecting additional cancers with SoftVu that are not seen with mammography alone.

In addition to investigating SoftVue's effectiveness in finding cancers, the project is also measuring women's experience and perceptions of SoftVue. Initial research results, in which more than 700 patients underwent a SoftVue exam and completed a post-exam survey, indicate nearly 90 percent of women either agree, or strongly agree, that SoftVue is a preferred breast imaging experience. They find the SoftVue exam comfortable, did not feel pain and felt the SoftVue exam was the best breast imaging exam they have undergone (see figures 1-3).

Due to patient privacy concerns, patients' names are excluded, but a few comments about the SoftVue exam include:

"Much better than a mammogram."

"Compared to mammogram, SoftVue™ experience was comforting and dignified."

"When compared to mammogram, SoftVue™ was gentle and an overall pleasant medical experience."

At Delphinus, we are working to assist physicians gain accurate information about breast disease and breast imaging for the women they serve. While developing better imaging science, we are striving for a better breast imaging experience for women, and a better experience for women now impacts the healthcare provider's bottom line.

SoftVue has already received two 510(k) clearances from the FDA for diagnostic breast ultrasound imaging and is not intended for use as a replacement for screening mammography.

Are you going to RSNA? If you are then please stop by the Delphinus Exhibit #3353 South Building, Hall A, and see how you can delight your patients as healthcare consumers while providing them the best of care. In addition, Nancy Cappello, Ph.D., founder of Are You Dense, Inc. and Are You Dense Advocacy, Inc., will be at our booth on Tuesday, November 28 between 11 am and 1 pm to answer questions and give her firsthand account about how breast density impacts breast imaging outcomes. Visit us at www.delphinusmt.com.

SoftVue™ is a trademark of Delphinus Medical Technologies, Inc.

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