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Forum Diagnostic Center offers convenient way to get answers
08/14/2007
When you are looking for answers about your health, it's tough to wait for appointments and results. Whether your doctor is sending you for a CT scan, X-ray, mammogram or bone density screening, you want accurate information quickly.

New Hanover Regional Medical Center's Forum Diagnostic Center combines advanced radiological services with convenience, comfort and efficiency. Frequently ranking in the 90th percentile in patient satisfaction, the Forum excels at making things as easy as possible for its patients.

Located in the Forum off Military Cutoff Road in Wilmington, the Forum Diagnostic Center has ample curbside parking and extended hours in the evening and weekend. The wait for an appointment is generally less than a day for CT scans and X-rays and a week to two weeks for mammograms and bone density tests. Inside, patients find a comfortably soothing environment.

Even more important, however, is the quality of the assessments being done. The technology available at the Forum is some of the most advanced equipment available.

A 16-slice CT scanner added to the Forum within the last year gives physicians a detailed view of blood vessels and organ systems. Now they can see smaller vessels without performing an angiogram, saving the patient the need for sedation and a day in the hospital. They also receive 30-60 percent less radiation than was used with older methods of CT scans.

For bone density screenings, the Forum uses a DEXA scan. Considered the 'gold standard' of osteoporosis assessment, the DEXA scan uses X-rays to determine whether a person has lost bone mass. Unlike standard X-rays, which would only show changes in bone density after about 40 percent bone loss, the DEXA scan can detect changes as small as 1 percent.

Mammograms are another important screening tool available at the Forum. Machines available at the Forum use mammopads for comfort and enhance the compression rate of the test, giving a better picture.
Better coordination, faster results

As part of New Hanover Regional Medical Center, the Forum offers a coordination of services not available outside the network. Patients have access to the most extensive team of radiologists in Southeastern North Carolina so scans can be directed to the person with the most expertise in a particular area. Additionally, any scan done at the Forum, New Hanover Regional Medical Center, the Medical Mall and Cape Fear Hospital are fed into a program called PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications Systems). With it, radiologists can easily pull up past images and identify changes that may be of concern.

The system has done a lot to speed up the processing time since its introduction a few years ago and it is being further enhanced by the implementation of a voice recognition system. The program lets radiologists open an image and dictate directly into the report, rather than taking notes and sending them off to a transcriptionist to enter. While the process is still new, it can cut the time to final report in half, from 24 hours after a test to less than 12.

If you would like to schedule an appointment with the Forum Diagnostic Center please call 332-3321.

Time for a check?


Finding medical problems early can make a difference in how easily they're treated. The following guidelines apply to routine screenings available at Forum Diagnostic Center.

Bone Density Screening
  • all women age 65 and older.

  • all postmenopausal women under age 65 who have one or more additional risk factors, including a history of bone fractures, smoking, excessive alcohol intake, low body weight, and low estrogen levels


    • Mammogram
    Annual screening mammography is recommended for the following groups:
  • women age 40 and older

  • women of any age with a history of breast cancer

  • women of any age at increased risk (those with lumpy breasts, genetic susceptibility to breast cancer, more than four first- or second-degree relatives with breast cancer, never pregnant or first pregnancy after age 30, previous diagnosis of breast cancer, previous breast biopsy)



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