Warraich HJ et al, in a new paper by FDA officials on AI regulation.

What’s the best way for imaging facilities to deal with growing patient volumes, declining reimbursement, and workforce shortages? In a new Imaging Wire article from RamSoft, learn how automation and cloud-based apps can replace manual processes and help your staff better manage patient loads without getting bogged down in administrative tasks.

Imaging Wire Sponsors

AGFA HealthCare  •  Blackford  •  Calantic by Bayer  •  CARPL.ai  •  Clearpath  •  DeepHealth  •  Enlitic  •  Gleamer  •  Intelerad  •  Mach7 Technologies  •  Medality  •  Merge by Merative  •  Microsoft  •  Optum  •  PocketHealth  •  Prenuvo  •  Riverain Technologies  •  Siemens Healthineers  •  SpinTech MRI  •  TeraRecon  •  United Imaging  •  Us2.ai  •  Visage Imaging

Patient Engagement

Do Imaging Costs Scare Patients?

A new study in JACR reveals an uncomfortable reality about medical imaging price transparency: Patients who knew how much they would have to pay for their imaging exam were less likely to complete their study. 

Price transparency has been touted as a patient-friendly tool that can get patients engaged with their care while also helping them avoid nasty billing surprises for out-of-pocket costs. 

• Price transparency is considered to be so important that CMS in 2021 implemented rules requiring hospitals to disclose their standard charges online, as well as post a user-friendly list of their services that includes prices. 

But given that the rules were implemented relatively recently, not much is known about how they might affect patient behavior, such as compliance with recommended follow-up imaging exams.

• Indeed, a recent study by some of the same authors found that patients are largely unaware of how much their imaging exams will cost them. 

So researchers analyzed data from two previously published studies of patients who either completed or were scheduled for outpatient imaging exams in Southern California. 

• Patients were asked if they had been told how much their exam would cost them out-of-pocket when they scheduled it. 

Of the 532 patients who were surveyed, researchers found …

• Only 15% said they knew about their out-of-pocket costs before their imaging exam. 
• Fewer patients who completed their exams knew their costs compared to those who canceled (12% vs. 22%).
• Patients who knew their costs were 67% less likely to complete their appointment than those who didn’t (OR=0.33).

So what’s the solution? The researchers suggested that healthcare providers may need to take a more proactive approach to disclosing price information to patients.

• One possibility would be to integrate pricing discussions into patient-provider communications when ordering imaging exams, rather than relying on patients to seek pricing information on their own. 

The Takeaway

The findings show that medical imaging price transparency is more complicated than just posting a list of prices online and expecting patients to do the rest of the work. Imaging providers may need to get more involved in pricing discussions – the question is whether many of them are ready for it.

Rewriting Cancer: How AI Could Reimagine Cancer Screening

Find out how DeepHealth is empowering breakthroughs in lung cancer detection with AI-driven technology in the #RewritingCancer digital series,  which explores innovative solutions for cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Future-Proof Your Medical Imaging

Switch to Optum’s fully managed, cloud-native enterprise imaging platform. Secure, scalable, seamless. Learn more today on how to future-proof your medical imaging!

Seamless, Connected Healthcare

Clearpath is committed to facilitating seamless, continued healthcare by optimizing automation and workflows between patients and providers. Learn how the company’s solutions contribute to a healthcare environment where every step of the patient journey is connected and efficient.

The Wire

• CT Radiation Affects Medical Devices: The FDA this week issued guidelines on CT of patients with implanted medical devices after reports of radiation-caused interference. Noting that CT is safer than MRI for devices of unknown MRI safety status, the FDA said its understanding is that damage to a device only occurs under direct CT radiation. Damage can be avoided by keeping the device outside of the body area being imaged, and for some high-strength radiation therapy procedures wearable devices should be removed and left outside the room. 

• The Paradox of High Patient Volume: In today’s imaging environment, growing your patient volume isn’t necessarily a good thing, given higher staff costs and lower reimbursement. But imaging providers can adapt to higher volume through automation and cloud-based apps that replace manual processes, freeing front-office staff to focus on patient needs instead of getting bogged down with administrative tasks. A new Imaging Wire article from RamSoft describes how organizations can leverage cloud applications with scalability across facilities and build as they grow while maintaining control and flexibility.

• FDA Officials Outline AI Regulation: What’s the current state of the FDA’s thinking on AI regulation? If this question keeps you up at night, you’ll want to check out a new article in JAMA that outlines the agency’s approach, co-authored by FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD. The article notes the sharp increase in FDA authorizations of AI-enabled medical devices, and points out the challenges in regulating products like large language models for medical use. The article concludes with a call for “strong oversight” of AI by the FDA.

• Enlitic Scores Partnerships: It’s been a good week for Enlitic. The provider of data standardization solutions announced partnerships for its ENDEX software with two heavy hitters in the radiology industry, Bayer and Philips. Bayer will integrate ENDEX into its radiation dose management applications to support better radiation dose monitoring, while Philips will offer ENDEX to its customers through the Blackford AI orchestration platform. Both agreements are for three years. In other Enlitic news, the company completed its acquisition of data migration firm Laitek, raised $15M (U.S.) to fund the deal and future operations, and tapped imaging industry veteran Brenda Rankin as COO.

• Post-COVID Cancer Detection Rebounds: The COVID-19 pandemic caused a disruption in cancer detection in 2020 that largely rebounded in 2021. In a paper in JAMA Network Open, researchers analyzed 15.8M patients diagnosed with cancer from 2000 to 2021, finding a -8.6% difference in expected cancer incidence in 2020 with only a slight -0.2% deficit in 2021. This translates to 127.9k undetected cases over the two years. The biggest deficits were seen in lung and bronchus (-24.9k), prostate (-14.1k), and melanoma (-10.3k). 

• MRI Enhancement Software Cleared: Bracco Diagnostics and Subtle Medical received FDA clearance for AiMIFY, a new software application for enhancing brain MRI. AiMIFY is designed to help radiologists detect small, poorly enhancing lesions, with the companies claiming it doubles enhancement compared to standard contrast-enhanced MRI exams. Bracco and Subtle announced their partnership last year to leverage AI to improve contrast MRI, and the clearance should be a boost in particular for Subtle as it sees revenue through Bracco’s sales channels.

• Lung Screening Finds Cancer Early: A real-world CT lung cancer screening program in France was able to find 71% of cancers at stage I or II, but getting patients to return past the baseline screening round was difficult. Some 1.3k people were screened from 2016 to 2020 in the DEP KP80 study, with 4.8% of cancers detected in situ, 64% at stage I, and 7.1% at stage II. Still, participation fell steadily from the baseline scan (75%) to the first and second rounds (43% and 31%).  

• Imaging Center Execs Charged with Fraud: U.S. government investigators charged the operators of several diagnostic imaging centers in the Los Angeles area with Medicare fraud. Sophia Shaklian and Alex Alexsanian were charged with submitting $54M in false Medicare claims for services that were never provided, for which they were paid $23M. They then allegedly laundered the proceeds through money transfers to a foreign national and the acquisition of gold bars and coins. They face up to 20 years in prison on healthcare fraud and money laundering charges.

• Hologic to buy Gynesonics: Hologic inked a $350M agreement to acquire Gynesonics, a developer of minimally invasive products for women’s health. Gynesonics markets the Sonata system, which combines intrauterine ultrasound guidance with radiofrequency ablation to treat uterine fibroids. Sonata complements Hologic’s offerings in its GYN Surgical Solutions business, which sells a range of related products such as the MyoSure tissue removal device and NovaSure endometrial ablation system. 

• Ultrasound AI for Thyroid Nodules: Ultrasound works for detecting thyroid nodules, but only 5-15% are malignant. In a study in Surgery, researchers used Koios Medical’s Koios DS AI algorithm with its automated TI-RADS calculator to determine which thyroid nodules should be biopsied. In a small study of 28 nodules (median size of 2.4 cm), the AI’s malignancy classifications were a bit lower than those of a radiologist by sensitivity (86% vs. 100%) but better in specificity (76% vs. 33%), and 14 of 28 biopsies would have been deferred (13 were benign). 

• GE Updates Ultrasound Scanner: GE HealthCare updated its value-oriented Versana Premier ultrasound scanner with new AI and automation tools. First launched in 2018, Versana Premier is a multi-purpose scanner suitable across medical specialties, including general practice, OB/GYN, MSK, and cardiology. The update includes Whizz real-time image optimization tools that can improve workflow up to 38%. The new version has FDA clearance and will begin shipping later this month. 

• Signify Research Lands $8M Investment: U.K. market intelligence firm Signify Research landed an investment worth £6M ($7.8M) from BGF, an equity investment firm specializing in companies in the U.K. and Ireland. Signify will continue to be led by CEO Steve Holloway and COO Alex Green, with Gareth Miller named as non-executive chair. Miller previously was with BGF-backed Cornwall Insights, an energy sector research firm. The investment will enable Signify to grow its operations and reach new markets. 

• Optellum Grant for Lung Cancer AI: Optellum received a grant from the U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Research to study the impact of a new AI algorithm it is developing on early lung cancer diagnosis. The research will assess the algorithm’s ability to help radiologists identify and characterize suspicious lung nodules, detected either incidentally on CT scans or as part of a lung cancer screening program. The AI algorithm will be deployed alongside Virtual Nodule Clinic, Optellum’s existing lung health solution.

Presenting Unboxing AI

Check out CARPL’s video series, Unboxing AI, featuring experts discussing AI and its future in radiology. The next episode on October 25 features radiologist Lawrence Tanenbaum, MD – reserve your seat today.

3 Good Reasons to Add Mammography

There are three good reasons to add mammography services at your imaging site as providers expect higher demand for breast imaging services. Get the facts about mammography on this resource page from Siemens Healthineers.

Heart Failure Screening at Home and in Primary Care

Heart failure is the number one cause of hospitalization in people over 65. The SYMPHONY study is investigating a screening strategy of point-of-care AI echo and NT-proBNP in primary practice and general community settings. Learn more on this page from Us2.ai.

The Resource Wire

• Are You Getting the Most Out of Your Image Exchange Solution? Ask yourself these 5 questions from PocketHealth to find out whether your enterprise image exchange solution is maximizing patient satisfaction, efficiency and driving revenue.  

• Unprecedented Insights Made Possible with AI: With the largest normative dataset of whole-body imaging in the world, Prenuvo’s AI researchers partner with the best academic minds to understand – like never before – what “normal” aging means. Learn about their work today.

• Impact of AI on Breast Cancer Screening: How is AI changing the breast cancer screening paradigm? In this October 23 webinar hosted by Bayer, hear an expert panel review the current role of AI in breast cancer screening, its impact on workflow, and future directions.

• AI for Detecting Post-Traumatic Bone Fractures: Check out this new research paper to learn how Gleamer’s BoneView AI solution enhanced radiologists’ ability to detect post-traumatic bone fractures by identifying cases without abnormalities, translating into improved patient care. 

• Connect with Intelerad at RSNA 2024: Connect with Intelerad at RSNA 2024 to see how they can empower your radiology team to deliver faster, more accurate diagnostics. Visit booth #6113 to see how they’re solving everyday radiology workflow challenges with scalable, cloud-based solutions. 

• Start at the Source to Improve MRI: Looking for ways to improve MRI speed and image quality while addressing broader concerns in healthcare? The answer may lie in proven MRI physics in your existing scanner – learn how to unlock it with STAGE from SpinTech MRI. 

• How McFarland Clinic Reduced Downtime: McFarland Clinic Health Ventures recently experienced a downtime occurrence when an HL7 interface went down. But thanks to a suite of medical imaging solutions from Merge by Merative, McFarland’s downtime lasted all of 15 minutes. Find out how they did it in this case study.

• Unlock Next-Generation AI with Foundation Models: Learn about Microsoft’s new family of cutting-edge multimodal medical imaging foundation models designed for healthcare organizations to test, fine-tune, and build tailored AI solutions specific to their needs, while minimizing extensive compute and data requirements.

• Connect with United Imaging at RSNA 2024: United Imaging will be celebrating the theme of Building Intelligent Connections at RSNA 2024. Come visit the company at booth #1929 to learn about their imaging solutions and how they connect to United’s mission of Equal Healthcare for All.

• Get the 2024 Radiology Practice Development Report: Medality surveyed more than 3,300 radiologists and discovered the most critical training gaps and growth opportunities in radiology for its 2024 Radiology Practice Development Report. Download your complimentary report today.

• Request an RSNA Meeting with TeraRecon: RSNA 2024 will be here before you know it. Come explore TeraRecon’s latest updates and find out why the company is an award-winning solution provider for AI-empowered radiology, oncology, cardiology, neurology, and vascular surgery. 

• Unlocking the Full Potential of Medical Imaging Data: Many healthcare organizations aren’t realizing the full potential of their vast stores of imaging data. On this page from Enlitic, learn how you can turn your data from an underutilized asset into a powerful driver of clinical, operational, and strategic value. 

• Transforming Patient Care with Mach7’s eUnity Diagnostic Viewer: University of Michigan Health-West uses Mach7’s eUnity Diagnostic Viewer to drive patient care and provider satisfaction. Learn more about how one of the nation’s most-wired hospitals puts patients first through adoption of innovative imaging technology.

• How to Standardize CT Images: The quality and appearance of CT scans can vary considerably. In this white paper from Riverain Technologies, find out how image normalization can standardize CT images, making them easier to analyze and interpret. 

• Improving Your Mammography Workflow: Want to learn how AI can relieve pressure in your mammography department? Watch this on-demand webinar hosted by Blackford featuring a panel discussing the importance of assessing breast density, image quality reporting, and prioritizing studies. 

• Go Virtual with Ease: Visage Imaging’s new Visage Ease VP solution makes it easy for you to take advantage of the unique clinical capabilities of the new Apple Vision Pro spatial computing environment. Learn how it can change your practice today. 

• Build Intelligent Connections at RSNA 2024: Visit AGFA HealthCare at booth #2565 at RSNA 2024 to learn how to elevate your radiology practice with enterprise imaging, enabling rapid growth. Find out how their next-generation solutions empower you to read faster and work smarter by scheduling an appointment today. 

The Industry Wire

1. UnitedHealth lowers forecast as cyberattack costs rise.
2. Philadelphia nurses struck in hit-and-run while helping patient.
3. Amazon same-day prescription delivery expanding to half of U.S.
4. Walgreens to close 1,200 stores over the next three years.
5. Say hello to JAMA+ AI.
6. FTC ramps up premerger reporting requirements.
7. UHS faces $895M in damages from patient abuse cases.
8. AHA opposes HHS interoperability rule: 6 things to know.
9. Notable speakers at next week’s HLTH conference.
10. UPMC taps health plan CEO.