Inquired at

Univ.
Prof. Dr. Christian Singer

Outpatient clinic and laboratory management

Head of the Center for Familial Breast and Ovarian Cancer AKH, Vienna

What is a breast health center?

A breast health center is an interdisciplinary organization of different medical departments dedicated to the treatment of breast cancer.
Breast health centers are very well organized with clear responsibilities and interfaces.

However, the term breast health center is not a protected term.
However, there is a certification that ensures that the quality of care and the comprehensive range of services are available.
Certified breast health centers always offer their patients the best possible care.
They are always up to date, patients have access to clinical studies, there are Breast Care Nurses and much more.

There are 28 of these certified breast health centers in Austria.

How long are patients treated there?

Treatment begins with the diagnosis, i.e. from the moment the patient is identified at a registered radiology institute, and ends with the cured patient in follow-up care.
If the patient has been diagnosed with metastatic disease, she is medically monitored for the entire duration of the metastatic stage in the breast health center.

So it is actually a lifelong process in which patients have a contact person whenever necessary and as far as necessary.

We like to see patients once a year for follow-up care.
The quarterly or half-yearly examinations are carried out by registered doctors.

Do patients return to their referring physicians during the course of treatment or only after treatment has been completed?

It’s always a question of how well you get on with the doctor, because the chemistry has to be right.
In principle, an entire team at the Breast Health Center knows the case.
They know the patient’s entire history, for example how long therapies have been carried out, how well they were tolerated, whether adjustments are or were necessary, the nature of the tumor at the beginning of the disease, developments and much more.
That’s why it’s important to stay smart.

Some patients change to many different doctors, which leads to many different opinions because the new doctors don’t know the whole story.
In addition, the patients are usually unhappy because they have to go through everything again and again.
In my opinion, this only makes them feel insecure.
But of course there are situations where the chemistry isn’t right and then you have to change doctors.

How do patients come to the Breast Health Center?

Either the radiologist refers the patient to the nearest breast health center or the patient chooses one and is referred.
Radiology institutes often have lists of breast health centers.

Sometimes the treating gynecologist also refers the patient.

We, on the part of the breast health centers, maintain communication with the referring physicians through regular referral events.
This is also where we evaluate which improvements or changes