The Saul & Joyce Brandman Breast Center of Excellence, A Project of the Women's Guild

At the Saul & Joyce Brandman Breast Center of Excellence, each patient receives comprehensive care from a team of breast surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, plastic surgeons, radiologists, geneticists, nutritionists, women's health physicians, alternative medicine physicians, nurses, and physical therapists. Cases are presented at a weekly multi-disciplinary conference. In this forum, multiple perspectives are considered and integrated to assure that patients are provided the best treatment as well as the widest range of options.

Physicians are highly experienced at treating common cases as well as rare and complex cases of breast cancer. They specialize in minimally invasive surgical procedures and breast conserving surgeries.

Measuring Quality of Care at the Saul and Joyce Brandman Breast Center

To continually improve upon the care given to breast cancer patients, a number of factors that lead to high quality of care are monitored. These include:

The volume of procedures done. Studies have demonstrated that hospitals that regularly perform a particular procedure tend to have better outcomes that those that perform the procedure less frequently.
Volume of breast conserving surgical procedures. The larger the portion of breast removed during surgery increases the likelihood that there will be a noticeable change in the shape of the breast afterward. Breast conserving surgical procedures minimize the chance of this happening.
The percentage of procedures done on an outpatient basis. Procedures done on an outpatient basis tend to be minimally invasive. Outpatient procedures are usually easier to recover from and present less disruption to a patient's daily activities.

In 2008, Cedars-Sinai performed 2,344 breast surgical procedures, of which 83% were done on an outpatient basis. The option of having breast conserving surgery is reviewed with patients as part of the treatment decision process.

Volume of Selected Outpatient Breast Procedures	Saul & Joyce Brandman Breast Center, 2008
Incisional breast biopsy: A type of biopsy where a sample of a lump or suspicious area is taken to check under a microscope for cancer. This type of biopsy is done when the lump is so large that removal of the breast would be required or removal of the lump would cause a cosmetic deformity.	45
Excisional breast biopsy: A type of biopsy where all of a lump or suspicious area is removed to be checked under a microscope for cancer. In some cases, no further surgery may be needed.	267
Biopsy with needle localization: A type of biopsy that is done after using a process to mark the site of the suspicious area. Aided by mammography images, a radiologist inserts a needle at the site. A small amount of blue dye is injected into the site through the needle. Sometimes the needle is replaced by a wire. Once the area has been marked, the patient goes into surgery for the biopsy.	314