Our Difference

Dr. Staiger has years experience as a dedicated breast imager.

Research has shown dedicated breast imagers’ training and experience translates into more accurate breast cancer and breast disease diagnoses.

A general radiologist frequently has only to interpret the federally required 480 mammograms per year to be permitted to interpret a mammogram. In Europe, with stricter standards, a minimum of 5,000 – 7,000 mammograms per year must be read; Dr. Staiger routinely interprets 10-11,000 mammograms per year. General radiologists’ patient recall rates from a routine screening program average 10-15%; Dr. Staiger’s recall rates are 5-7% annually, eliminating much unnecessary additional testing while maintaining high cancer detection rates.

Dr. Staiger is frequently asked by patients’ physicians to re-evaluate problematic breast studies performed by non-specialists at other institutions because of their trust in her expertise.
Research: Dr. Staiger has been a member since 2000 of the International Digital Mammography Development Group (IDMDG), an international consortium of physicians and physicists dedicated to the development, implementation and advancement of digital mammography. She has participated in some of the earliest clinical trials of this new technology, including serving as a principal investigator in the ground-breaking American College of Radiology Imaging Network - Digital Mammography Imaging Screening Trial (ACRIN DMIST), which demonstrated benefit of digital mammography for younger women with dense breast tissue. ACRIN is an organization of international radiology experts dedicated to investigating and developing improvements in cancer imaging, funded by the National Cancer Institute, a part of the U.S. National Institute of Health. Dr. Staiger has participated in research on different aspects of digital mammography, breast ultrasound, and the new technology of CT Laser mammography currently being evaluated by the FDA. She has lectured on and presented this data at many professional and community meetings.

Ultrasound: Unlike many radiologists who rely on technologists with limited experience and training in breast ultrasound (sonography) to perform your exam, Dr. Staiger and her colleagues performs their own complete diagnostic ultrasound scans. This type of exam ensures complete evaluation of the whole breast, not just the part that may be symptomatic, improving your chance of an accurate diagnosis. Dr. Staiger, who has pioneered the use of fine needle aspiration breast biopsies, is expert in performing this type of least invasive breast biopsy, allowing patients to receive a preliminary biopsy results within 30 minutes.

Dr. Staiger is one of a small number of breast imagers to serve as a reviewer of other facilities’ ultrasound studies to ensure they comply with the American College of Radiology’s quality standards for breast ultrasound accreditation. She also sits on the national ACR (American College of Radiology) Breast Ultrasound Accreditation Committee that sets standards for excellence in breast ultrasound.

Credentials: In 2009, Dr. Staiger became the only New Jersey radiologist that year to be inducted as a Fellow in the ACR. This high honor, accorded to only 10% of American radiologists recognized Dr. Staiger’s clinical expertise, contributions to research and teaching, service to the ACR, and dedication to the community.

Community: As a long-time member of American Cancer Society divisions in Pennsylvania, Long Island and the Jersey Shore region, Dr. Staiger has served as a Board member as well as a spokesperson on breast cancer issues. She has served as Chief Medical Officer of the Jersey Shore division, and has given many presentations on breast cancer diagnosis to multiple women’s groups, church and community organizations. She has been featured in national and local television, radio and print media discussing issues in breast cancer detection and breast disease diagnosis. She chaired the Mammography Workforce subcommittee of the New York/New Jersey ACS Strikeforce, which investigated causes in declines in mammography rates in the greater metropolitan area.

Dr. Staiger is a member of the New Jersey Governor’s Work Group on Breast Cancer, and has lectured a consortium of health care providers in New Jersey on methods of breast cancer detection.

Dr. Staiger has been honored by the American College of Surgery’s Commission on Cancer as one of 55 outstanding cancer liaison physicians in the country; in this capacity, she functioned as an intermediary and educator between the Cancer Services division of Monmouth Medical Center, the American Cancer Society, and the community.

Dr. Staiger is a member of the Monmouth County Cancer Coalition, which serves the county by providing information and networking opportunities for professionals providing cancer services and their patients. As a member of the Access to Care Committee of this organization, she has championed the rights of New Jersey women to benefit from mammography screening and advanced testing and treatments.

Dr. Staiger is certified by the American College of Radiology (which conforms to the nation’s highest level of qualification) for performance of digital mammography, breast ultrasound, ultrasound-guided fine needle fine needle and core biopsies, and stereotactic biopsies.

Services she has supervised have had flawless state and federal MQSA (Mammography Quality Standards Act) inspections since 1995 as well as earning the Breast Center of Excellence designation by the American College of Radiology (ACR).