The rolling chair with push bar and lockable wheels allows the technologist to position the patient without having to hold her in place

The technologically advanced VELA Mammography Chair, offered by Enable Me, a VELA Medical company, provides an alternative to the standing exam that reduces musculoskeletal injury to the mammographer, adding to job satisfaction and workplace safety, factors that can reduce expensive employee turnover.

"The glowing testimonials we have from mammographers who use the VELA Mammography Chair all reference a reduction in upper body, hand and wrist stress,” said, Mike Laky, president of Enable Me, the national leader in VELA seated mammography technology. “One even declared simply, ‘It’s great for our backs!’ and another said, ‘It’s helping the clinicians be more comfortable.’”

SIX ELEMENTS OF ROI

Laky suggested that the return on investment in the VELA Mammography Chair can be calculated in at least six ways:

  1. Improved employee retention through job satisfaction and workplace safety
  2. More efficient transfer of patients to exam room and back, increasing daily appointment workflow efficiencies
  3. Enabling radiologists to work solo if needed with staffing issues
  4. Electric height adjustment with handheld remote better positions patient and also lessens stressors on the mammographer
  5. With four-4-inch lockable wheels, the VELA Mammography chair is a stable platform that can aid in clearer imaging and fewer retakes
  6. Lessening slip and fall risk of injury to the patient and the mammographer, the resulting litigation and reputational damage

TURNOVERS COSTLY

According to Human Resource Management in Radiology, replacing staff such as a radiologic technologist can cost an organization as much as 21% of that employee’s annual salary. The turnover rate annually is 17.5%.

WARNINGS OF A TECHNOLOGIST SHORTAGE

The recent Siemens Healthineer research document reported that in 2020, the number of graduates taking the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists exam was down nearly 8%.

“Unless the number of new mammography professionals entering practice every year increases beyond the current levels, there will be a growing gap between the supply of and demand for mammography professionals over the next two decades,” warns The American Journal of Roentgenology.

Andrew Bowen, APR ab@clearviewcom.com 404-822-3309