Saul & Joyce Brandman Breast Center A Project of 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 2009, Cedars-Sinai performed 3,112 breast surgical procedures, of which 95% were done on an outpatient basis. The option of having breast conserving surgery is reviewed with patients as part of the treatment decision process.