Importance of health screening and testing: assuring a healthier future.

When implementing a preventive health care program, health screenings are a good place to start, says Ruth Townsend, Alaska Regional Hospital's director of cardiac rehab, diabetes and nutrition center. Health screening and testing make it possible for common diseases to be detected, prevented and/ or treated. The type of health screening required depends on a person's age and sex. However, based on their family history and interest, individuals might opt to have a blood pressure reading, body mass index (BMI) test or lab work to check blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

"If they've got a high blood sugar, they might need to get it checked again," Townsend says. "The screenings can be a warning for people. If they identify a problem, they can follow up with their physician."

Mammograms and pap tests are recommended every few years for women in their 40s to check for cancer. Prostate screenings are advisable for men who are 50 or even younger if they have a family history of prostate cancer. And everyone should have dental checks annually and eye exams at least every two years.

Although most insurance companies don't routinely cover health screenings, more companies are asking their employees to have preventative testing done, according to Alaska Open Imaging Marketing Director, Kim Black. Also, people are taking their health into their own hands. "We have patients who will pay the $100 (for a screening) if they have a history of heart disease. Patients are taking their health more seriously."

Alaska Open Imaging is the first independently owned diagnostic imaging facility to pioneer secure, Web-based radiology in Alaska. The most common type of screening the facility performs is a $315 bone density test, which is normally covered by insurance. High-tech calcium cardiac scoring to determine the probability of heart disease is the next most requested kind of screening, with about 60 tests completed per month. Virtual colonoscopy is another high-tech diagnostic tool provided by Alaska Open Imaging. It uses computer technology to create three-dimensional images of the colon to detect the presence of abnormal growths. The cost of a virtual colonoscopy, including the radiologist interpretation, runs $1,295.

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About a year ago, the center began offering lung cancer screening, which cost $249 and has been quite popular, according to Black. "It's really targeted to patients who have a long history of smoking," she explains. "A lot of time, they are scared, and these preventatives studies can give them peace of mind."

The physician-referred testing done at Alaska Open Imaging plays an important role now--and in the future--in the lives of patients who are taking control of their health care, Black says. "They're looking at these screening tools, and change their diet and exercise, depending on the results of the cardiac calcium scoring," she says.

Health screening is not only important because it can detect diseases, but it can also save lives, says Dr. Denise Farleigh, medical director of Providence Imaging Center, an independent diagnostic imaging facility in Anchorage.

Providence Imaging is the largest breast image center in the state, performing 100 to 120 mammograms and 20 to 25 breast ultrasounds daily. Farleigh, also the center's director of breast imaging, says mammography is critical to women because it can identify cases of cancer before symptoms become perceptible--when treatment of disease is simpler and less expensive, she says. "If we find a breast cancer before it's clinical apparent, we can improve the patients long-term survival or even cure them of the disease."

Providence Imaging strives to offer some of the latest technology in diagnostic testing, including digital mammography. With this 10-year-old technology, the X-ray images are output as digital files instead of on film. Consequently, the results are available sooner, and there's no film to lose.

In certain cases, Providence Imaging performs breast screening with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in conjunction with digital mammography. This higher-tech, dual-testing approach is most often used with women who are very high risk for cancer, have been newly diagnosed with breast cancer or have been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease.

Preventative screening and health care, in general, are critical to improving the health of our society, Farleigh says. "Truly, we need to focus attention on early detection and prevention because that's how we will allow people to live long and healthy lives," she says. "If we can do something simple and we can do it early, the benefit to the patient is much greater."

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