Bay Radiology Offers Personal Approach To Mammograms

By Rochelle Karina

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, and it’s also an opportunity for the Voice to focus on Dr. Helen Mrose and Bay Radiology, the only free-standing, dedicated breast imaging center in the Baltimore-Annapolis area. Dr. Mrose’s mission in founding Bay Radiology was to create a center that provides the most outstanding breast imaging service in the region, with a focus on compassion and personalized care. “I wanted to provide something different from the normal imaging process,” explains Dr. Mrose.

Bay Radiology is definitely different. When patients call, they are greeted by a receptionist rather than a phone tree, and the facility resembles a spa more than a doctor’s office. “It’s a pretty space,” says Dr. Mrose. “It doesn’t look like a medical office.” They see only one person at a time, so there is no crowded waiting room. Their technician is also a massage therapist who Dr. Mrose describes as having “the gentlest touch.” Rather than being offered a starchy hospital gown, patients are given a soft robe to wear during their exam. It’s all designed to promote a calm environment and minimize the clinical atmosphere.

The other main difference patients will find is that Dr. Mrose reads their mammograms that same day, and shares the results and mammogram with the patient. There is no anxious period of waiting for a phone call or letter.

Dr. Mrose opened the facility in November 2010. A Severna Park resident, she wanted to remain close to home and she intends to stay right here in the community. She says she’s not looking to expand into a huge business, but wants to remain local and personal. “I am passionate about doing breast imaging well,” explains Dr. Mrose. “We want to deliver the very best care and forge good relationships with the doctors and the community.” Dr. Mrose provides educational talks and articles about breast cancer and imaging practices. As a teenager, she was in a car accident that left her with lots of time to think about her life and chosen path. She first pursued her PhD, then her MD, and then headed into radiology because that was where she saw people who were the happiest.

The Bay Radiology goals are simple: to solve problems for women (and men) with breast symptoms quickly, efficiently and with a focus on communication, and also to find breast cancers in asymptomatic women when the cancers are tiny and curable. Cancer cannot be prevented, but early detection can make all the difference in the world when it comes to treatment.

For those who are skeptical about an imaging center that is not connected to a hospital or larger medical institution, Dr. Mrose issues an invitation to stop by and take a look, or even arrange a tour of the center. “This is a labor of love,” Dr. Mrose continues. “I believe in what we are doing and I get personal satisfaction from knowing that we are saving lives.”