BILLINGS - Billings Clinic patients can now benefit from digital mammography, a faster and safer way of doing mammograms. The hospital recently put digital mammography machines at their locations here in Billings.

St. Vincent Healthcare also offers this type of exam.

Doctors say the only difference the patient will notice is faster results, but on their end, they say the digital technology provides a better image. "Annalog mammography takes longer and exposes them to more radiation. With digital, not so. And in certain cases, and for women with dense breasts, the person reading the mammogram can get a better sense of what's going on." says Doctor Tom Purcell with Billings Clinic.

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death for women.

Doctors suggest women start getting mammograms once a year at age forty.