SimonMed and Cox Business bring breast tomosynthesis to Valley

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Improves diagnostic accuracy over digital mammogram, increases breast cancer detection and reduces patient recall

SCOTTSDALE – SimonMed and Cox Business have partnered to make a new, diagnostically superior, FDA-approved mammogram called tomosynthesis available to patients in the Valley and across the state at the same cost as a traditional digital mammogram. This is the first dedicated outpatient offering of breast tomosynthesis in Arizona and it is offered at SimonMed’s Fashion Square office in Scottsdale.

Subspecialty trained radiologists at SimonMed can now see the breast through multislice images with:

• increased diagnostic accuracy in breast cancer detection
• reduced anxiety and less need for additional scans
• faster results for patients

“Tomosynthesis is the next generation of digital mammography that acquires three-dimensional images of a stationary compressed breast. It’s a revolutionary technology for a serious problem,” says Dr. John Simon, founder of SimonMed, describing tomosynthesis adding, “Patients don’t always realize they have a choice when it comes to radiology centers and we offer superior technology.”

Views of a breast with standard digital mammography are compromised due to shadows and tissue covering suspicious masses. Tomosynthesis provides additional detail showing anatomic images that do not appear on a normal mammogram. More accurate imaging for patients and their physicians reduces the need for additional scans and decreases patient anxiety.

In order to make tomosynthesis available on an outpatient basis, SimonMed needed a business Internet provider that could transfer data sets 100 times the size of traditional digital mammography. SimonMed’s previous Internet data lines could not keep up with the imaging center’s data transfer requirements. Cox Business came to the table with multiple fiber rings connecting SimonMed’s 33 offices with 100M circuits to its secure datacenter hub. The connection runs on “redundant paths” ensuring that SimonMed is able to transmit and receive critical health care at all times.

According to Dr. Simon, “We’re now able to increase the speed and accuracy with which we share images, allowing all of our referring physicians to instantaneously double their productivity, while decreasing the time it takes to make critical health care decisions.

“Cox Business is pleased to provide our network as the platform enabling SimonMed to revolutionize the way breast cancer is detected in the Valley,” says Hyman Sukiennik, vice president, Cox Business.

The Cox Business network also provides SimonMed with scalability so that if one office needs more or less bandwidth for its operations, Cox Business can make a seamless adjustment on the network without any disruption to SimonMed. “We could not have grown the way we have without Cox Business,” says Dr. Simon.

Next, SimonMed will be bringing functional brain MRI imaging technology to the outpatient market. The technology is now only available at research institutions. “And Cox Business will be there with new technology to grow with SimonMed,” says Sukiennik.

About SimonMed
SimonMed is one of the most advanced and specialized diagnostic imaging providers in the Southwest. We provide hi-tech radiology services, including comprehensive women’s imaging with stereotactic, ultrasound guided and MRI guided breast biopsy and 3-D breast tomosynthesis. SimonMed offers state-of-the-art MRI technology, including 10 3T MRIs, the scanner of choice for many conditions such as aneurysm workups and MS. We’re also the leader in MRI comfort for larger patients with the first 3T wide bore scanners, and we’re the only provider in Arizona with a high field 1.2T Open MRI. SimonMed is a physician-based practice with the most experienced group of subspecialty trained radiologists in the Southwest. We are an IDTF accredited testing facility with certified technologists and equipment, and we are ACR-certified.

About Cox Business
Cox Business provides voice, Internet, data and video services for nearly 250,000 small and regional businesses, including health care providers, K – 12 and higher education, financial institutions, and federal, state and local government organizations. According to Vertical Systems Group, Cox Business is the fourth largest provider of business Ethernet services in the U.S. based on customer ports. Cox is the currently the seventh largest voice service provider in the U.S. and supports more than 650,000 business phone lines. For more information about Cox Business, visit coxbusiness.com or call 1-800-396-1609.

Cox Communications Arizona
Cox Communications is the third largest cable provider and a multiservice broadband communications company serving nearly 3 million residential and business product subscribers in Arizona (a product subscriber represents an individual service purchased by a customer). In metro Phoenix, Cox serves approximately 2.5 million product subscribers. In Southern Arizona, Cox serves approximately 400,000 product subscribers. Cox’s 18,500-mile Hybrid Fiber/Coax (HFC) cable network throughout Phoenix and Southern Arizona provides homes and businesses with digital television, high-speed Internet, home networking, high-definition television and digital telephone service over its own nationwide IP network. During the past eight years, Cox has topped numerous J.D. Power and Associates’ studies of customer satisfaction, most recently receiving top honors for residential telephone and high-speed Internet, and business data services and has received PC Magazine’s “people’s choice” award for the fifth time. Cox Media is responsible for the sale of cable advertising throughout Arizona. Cox Communications is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc. and serves approximately 6 million customers nationwide. Additional information about Cox in Arizona is available at www.cox.com/arizona.