Early breast cancer detection could save your life.
Detecting breast cancer early is the key to successful treatment. Every day, our breast cancer detection services help put Montanans in the driver’s seat of their health. Using the most advanced digital mammography equipment for early detection, we provide you and your healthcare provider with highly accurate images for monitoring and protecting your breast health.
The Latest Technology
Using the latest 3D™ Digital Mammography technology, we capture state-of-the-art imaging of breast tissue and the chest wall, with lower radiation and shorter exam times than traditional 2D breast imaging. This means less compression time and discomfort for you. Your scans are then read by our team of radiologists specializing in breast imaging.
We proudly hold the American College of Radiology gold seal in Mammography, meeting highest quality and safety standards.
Convenience and Care For You
We’re here to make caring for your breast health easy. Our mammography screenings for Western Montanans are offered at three convenient locations:
- Main Center on the Community Medical Center campus in Missoula
- North Reserve at the Grant Creek Town Center next to REI and T.J. Maxx in Missoula
- Stevensville on the Eastside Highway in the Community Physician Group building
At each location, our team of dedicated technologists will guide you through every step of the process, with diligent focus on your comfort. Exams typically take just 15 minutes, and walk-ins and same-day appointments are always welcome.
Get your annual mammogram appointment on your calendar.
NOTE: You do not need an order or referral from your healthcare provider for an annual mammogram screening. At check-in, you will need to provide your healthcare provider’s information to send your results.
Breast Screening Guidelines
ALL WOMEN should consult with their healthcare provider to discuss when to start mammogram screenings based on their individual risk factors. The American Cancer Society recommends women:
Age 40 – 44
Age 45 – 54
Age 55+
At high risk
What to Expect
Let’s help you prepare.
We’re here to make your mammogram experience as comfortable as possible. A little prep can help everything go smoothly and put your mind at ease.
- Please familiarize yourself with your insurance benefits for mammography services. NOTE: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires most private health insurers to pay for annual screening mammograms with no out-of-pocket expenses for women age 40 and older. Medicaid and Medicare may have different requirements.
- Bring with you to your appointment: your insurance card, healthcare provider’s information and images taken at another mammography facility from previous mammograms. These can be valuable when looking for changes in your breasts.
- Wear a two-piece outfit as you’ll be removing your top.
- Arrive 15 minutes before your appointment to fill out paperwork and change into a gown.
- After checking in, you’ll enter a private changing room and remove your top and bra, wipe off any deodorant and change into a gown.
- During your mammogram, the technologist will walk you through the exam and position each breast with compression for 20 – 30 seconds. Although awkward, it is necessary to spread and flatten your breast to get a clear view of the breast tissue and reduce the amount of radiation needed to make the image.
- Screening mammograms typically last 15 minutes.
- We will send you and your healthcare provider your results within a week of your exam. If you have an account on the Community Medical Center portal, they will also show up there.
- Repeat 3D™ Digital Mammography or other breast cancer screenings may be advised depending on your screening results. Call-backs can be normal especially if you have dense breast tissue.
- If advised, discuss options and next steps with your healthcare provider. Advanced Imaging provides comprehensive diagnostic breast imaging for Western Montana patients, including breast MRI, abbreviated breast MRI (AB-MRI) and Automated Breast Ultrasound System (ABUS) as well as breast biopsy services.
Screening Mammography FAQ
Still have questions?
If no one is previously scheduled or ahead of you when you walk-in, a mammogram generally takes about 15 minutes after you have checked in and changed.
According to the Mammography Quality Standard Act, a routine annual mammogram can be self-referred. You DO need to have a healthcare provider who will receive the report.
You will receive results within a week unless we are waiting for your previous comparison mammograms from another facility. That can sometimes take two to three weeks.
It’s valuable to compare your results to your last exam to see if anything has changed.
Yes, the compression is the same, but the amount of time the compression is applied is shorter.
Patients with breast implants can have mammograms in the same way as patients without implants.
Yes, you will as deodorant can sometimes appear as an area of calcification on a mammogram.
Yes, it uses radiation but slightly less radiation than with film or screen mammograms.
We perform breast imaging services at three of our four locations.
Our North Reserve location in Missoula and our Stevensville location are dedicated to offering screening digital mammograms. They are open for scheduled and walk-in appointments Monday – Friday from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm.
At our Main Center on South Avenue West, we offer diagnostic breast imaging (breast MRI, abbreviated breast MRI (AB-MRI), ABUS and breast biopsy services) from 9 am – 4 pm; routine walk-in screening mammograms are available from 7:30 – 9 am and from 4 – 6 pm.
3D mammography enables the radiologists to adjust the images’ contrast and magnification to aid them in diagnosis. For women with dense, fibrous breasts 3D mammography is especially superior.
Yes, our radiologists also use a tool called CAD (computer aided diagnosis), a computer program that is designed to evaluate mammograms. This means that mammograms are evaluated by both our radiologist and the CAD program.
An AB-MRI is performed on the same scanner as a full breast MRI. The AB-MRI is more affordable and faster lasting around 15 minutes, whereas the full breast MRI lasts between 30 and 45 minutes. A full breast MRI is typically for women with a high lifetime risk of breast cancer or women with a strong family history of breast cancer or a known genetic predisposition to breast cancer. AB-MRI is intended for women with dense breasts who are at average risk of breast cancer.
ABUS, or Automated Breast Ultrasound System, is a secondary screening exam designed for women with dense breasts. Tumors and dense breast tissue both appear white on mammograms, which can make detecting a tumor more challenging. Because of that, we also offer ABUS which uses 3D ultrasound technology that provides clearer images through dense breast tissue, making it easier to see potential tumors.