Mammography quality assurance in Washington State

Poor mammography quality control results in the loss of important diagnostic information. Several organizations and agencies recommend or require that mammography quality assurance procedures include the periodic evaluation of equipment. The objective of this study was to assess compliance with published guidelines pertaining to the monitoring of mammography equipment. One hundred eighty-four Washington state mammography facilities were surveyed by mail during late 1989 and early 1990. The response rate was 71%. A large proportion of facilities was not complying with published guidelines concerning the frequency of evaluation of processor parameters and phantom image quality. Results suggest that many facilities were not in compliance with American College of Radiology recommendations concerning annual system evaluation by a physicist. The results of this study reinforce the importance of establishing minimum quality assurance standards and indicate a need for more mammography quality assurance technologist training.