ZP Radiologist to Present at the Commack Branch of the Smithtown Library

In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, ZP Radiologist Melinda Staiger will be at the Commack branch of the Smithtown library this Thursday, 10/15, to discuss the importance of breast cancer screenings.  Her presentation, “Breast Cancer Screening-Who, When, How?” will cover risk factors, mammography, 3D tomography, ultrasound and MRI, as well as image guided biopsies.

Dr. Staiger earned her medical degree and completed her residency in Diagnostic Radiology at New York University Medical Center. She brings 30 years of experience as an expert in breast imaging and diagnosis to Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology.

The presentation begins at 7pm at 3 Indian Head Road in Commack, and those interested can register here.

Zwanger Pesiri is Making Strides

Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology will be supporting the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer at their two Long Island events.  Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks are the largest network of breast cancer awareness events in the nation, uniting nearly 300 communities with a shared determination to finish the fight. The two walks on Long Island, one at Jones Beach and one at Dowling College, are among the 300 events that will take place across the country.  Each year, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer brings in more than 60 million dollars and since 1993 more than 594 million dollars have been raised.

Please join us to honor and celebrate breast cancer survivors, raise awareness about the disease, and raise money to help the American Cancer Society save lives.

Making Strides of Eastern Long Island

Sunday, October 04, 2015 at 8:30am

Dowling College Brookhaven Campus

Making Strides of Long Island

Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 8 am-11am

Jones Beach State Park - Field 5

Labor Day Weekend Hours

Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology Opens New Dix Hills/Deer Park Location

Radiology Practice opens 17^th location on Long Island

Deer Park, New York – On April 28, 2015, Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology, the largest private radiology practice on Long Island, announced the opening of its newest location in Deer Park, NewYork, bordering on Dix Hills.  The new office is located at 2087 Deer Park Avenue, making this their eleventh office in Suffolk County. 

The office offers MRI, CT, X-ray, and Ultrasound, and is conveniently located two miles south of the Long Island Expressway and three miles north of the Southern State Parkway.  The Dix Hills/Deer Park location expands Zwanger-Pesiri’s reach in providing easy access to the most advanced radiological services in the industry and will provide the first 3.0 Tesla Wide-bore magnet in the area.  The 3.0 Tesla MRI provides an unprecedented level of detail and clarity, and is designed to ease claustrophobia and maximize patient comfort.

Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology is a patient-centric practice and has become well-known for their fast turnaround time of results.  They employ over 50 subspecialty-trained radiologists who only read studies within their own field of expertise.  According to Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Steven L. Mendelsohn, this results in 90% of the studies being read within one hour.  These results, along with results from previous exams, are posted on the Patient Portal for the patient to access at his or her convenience. 

“We are excited to add this new facility and staff to the Zwanger-Pesiri organization. Our goal is to provide easily accessible, superior, outpatient imaging to all of Long Island, and this office takes us one step closer. We are eager to bring our professional expertise and paramount patient care that we are known for to the community,” said Dr. Mendelsohn.

About Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology

Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology, the largest and most respected practice on Long Island, has been serving the community for over 60 years. To date, there are 17 locations in Nassau and Suffolk counties, each providing a range of radiological specialties including musculoskeletal, neurological, oncological, vascular and more. 

Having over 50 certified radiologists that have multiple subspecialties, and offering seven 1.5T MRI units, seventeen 3T MRI units, twenty-three 3D Mammography units, three PET/CT scanners, and the first clinical outpatient MRI/PET system in the country, Zwanger-Pesiri continues to provide the highest quality of care and excellence to all of its patients.

Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology strives to provide the most advanced technology available today with a strong focus on delivering a quality of care unmatched in the industry. Visit the Zwanger-Pesiri website for further information at www.zprad.com.

3D Automated Breast Ultrasound System (ABUS)

Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology recently introduced the 3D Automated Breast Ultrasound System (3D ABUS) at its offices in Plainview and Stony Brook.   3D ABUS will complement other breast cancer screening tests - including Digital Mammography, 3D Mammography (Tomosynthesis), and Breast MRI – as part of Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology’s ongoing commitment to detecting breast cancer at the 
earliest possible stage.

3D ABUS is a new approach to performing an ultrasound (or “sonogram”) of the breasts.  During a painless examination that takes approximately 15 minutes, the 3D ABUS device acquires ultrasound images of the breasts, covering each breast in its entirety.  Instead of a small handheld probe, 3D ABUS uses a large curved panel that can typically cover all of the breast tissue in three quick sweeps.

The images are then reviewed by a radiologist on a 3-dimensional work station.  The radiologist is able to look through hundreds of images from multiple angles and see through layers of breast tissue to find cancers, which might otherwise have gone undetected.  The radiologist can compare the 3D ABUS findings to the patient’s mammogram, as well as to prior ultrasound examinations.

Why is 3D ABUS important?  Mammography is a very powerful tool for detecting breast cancer, but it is not perfect.  Approximately 40% of women have dense breasts, and mammography can miss up to 30% of cancers in dense breast tissue.  3D ABUS is not a substitute for mammography, which is still the single best screening test for breast cancer.   However, adding 3D ABUS as a screening test for patients with dense breast tissue can improve cancer detection.

Because 3D ABUS uses sound waves, there is no radiation exposure. Any patient with dense breast tissue, including those with prior breast cancer, breast surgery or implants, can benefit from 3D ABUS. 

Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology is the leading breast imaging facility on Long Island offering 17 locations throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties. 

Cryoablation: The Alternative to Surgery for Fibroadenomas

It can all come down to a moment in the shower -- you’re washing up and then, all of a sudden, you feel a lump. Yes, for some, the most regular action on the most average of days has been exactly the moment that sends hearts falling from the normal course of everyday life into an “Oh my, now what will I do?” realization. So it can be with fibroadenomas, the solid, noncancerous breast tumors that occur most often in adolescent girls and women, ages 12 to 35.

Usually painless, fibroadenomas can vary in size and might feel like a marble in your breast, moving under the skin when touched. Among the most common breast lumps in young women, fibroadenomas are a bit of a puzzle in that they can get bigger or even shrink on their own (due to hormonal changes). The first step is discovery, which can take place during a woman’s normal showering routine or through a brief self-examination. A more proactive, clinical way of diagnosing a fibroadenoma is via an imaging test like a mammogram, ultrasound, or MRI. Your doctor will, most likely, recommend one of these imaging tests to confirm that the lump is, indeed, a fibroadenoma.

So how do you deal with a fibroadenoma once discovered? If the fibroadenoma is small and painless, and remains the same size, you would not need any treatment. Often, fibroadenomas can be left alone and no treatment is necessary.  They are, usually, just monitored with follow-up ultrasounds. If however, the fibroadenoma is large, painful, or growing, and your doctor advises treatment, options can include monitoring to detect changes in their size or feel, a biopsy, surgical removal, or cryoablation, an FDA-approved treatment as an alternative to surgery. Cryoablation is a long-established, effective procedure for destroying these types of breast tumors that usually takes between 5 and 15 minutes. After a local anesthetic is applied, a thin hollow needle (called a “cryoprobe”) is used to circulate cooled, thermally conductive fluids which destroy the offensive surrounding tissue (the frozen tissue is absorbed within months). Since no tissue is removed, the shape of your breast will not be affected.

Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology is the only outpatient facility on Long Island performing cryoablation, leading the way in breast imaging. For more information, click Cryoablation or call (631)225-7200 ext. 4642 to speak to our radiologist, Dr. Guy Bassis. For a ZPR office nearest you, click locations & directions.

Hospital-Owned Physician Groups Have 20% Higher Medical Costs

As hospital systems nationwide acquire more physician practices, everybody may be getting hurt.  A new study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association shows that hospital ownership of physician groups in California led to up to 20% overall higher costs for patient care. Employers and workers have to pay for these increased costs in the form of higher premiums, and consumers face higher prices with insurance deductibles rising.

For the study, data from 2009 to 2012 was analyzed, including nearly 160 medical groups and 4.5 million patients in California. Categories included groups owned by physicians, those owned by large hospital systems across several of the state’s geographic markets, and those owned by local hospitals or hospital systems.

According to the study, total spending was 10.3% higher per patient for hospital-owned physician offices compared with doctor-owned organizations.  When large health systems running multiple hospitals owned medical groups, costs were even higher. Compared with independent physician groups, per patient spending was 19.8% higher.

These physician groups are also under pressure to refer patients to more expensive imaging and other outpatient treatments that can be cheaper at free-standing clinics. It all brings into focus that the consolidation of physicians and hospitals into large mega-systems will not reduce costs, and will increase the cost of healthcare.

Zwanger-Pesiri Radiology (ZPR) is a privately owned radiology practice dedicated to providing state-of-the-art radiological services to our patients with a level of care unmatched in the industry. We offer 17 offices throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties. Click here to see all the services ZPR offers.