ABR taps experts for online testing help; SimonMed’s AI deal, plus more radiology vendors news
The American Board of Radiology has tapped research and advisory firm Gartner to help guide the administration of virtual exams in 2021.
ABR said it sought help from the firm in “an effort to make remote oral and computer-based exams optimal experiences for candidates.” With the deal, Gartner will lend its business insights, advice and tools in the creation of the board’s new online exam-delivery process. They’ll key in on vendor selection, cybersecurity, purchasing, compliance and “development strategies.”
“We are confident that Gartner’s vast experience, which includes serving more than 14,000 businesses and nonprofits across 100 countries, will assist us in developing remote exams that exceed the expectations of our candidates,” ABR said in an update shared Aug. 19.
Meanwhile, the doc-certification nonprofit said it plans to extend the delivery of its Core Exam from two days to three. ABR said the switch will help it to “account for factors beyond our control,” such as internet connectivity problems or power outages.
The Core Exam is slated to take place Feb. 1-3; June 2-4 and 7-9; and on soon-to-be-announced dates in November. ABR first announced back in June that it was moving to a virtual exam process because of the ongoing pandemic.
RSNA reveals online expo details
The Radiological Society of North America recently revealed details about the virtual version of its massive showroom floor planned for December.
With the society’s 106th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting moving to the web this year because of the novel coronavirus, RSNA is offering vendors five different ways to “customize their meeting experience.”
To help keep eyes on the virtual exhibit floor, RSNA said it will pause any live scientific and educational sessions for an hour each day. Attendees will be able to conduct one-on-one meetings with imaging companies, engage in matchmaking, and live chat, according to an announcement.
“In planning this virtual event, we took the time to listen to our exhibitors’ needs. We’ve developed a wide variety of engagement opportunities to establish and strengthen relationships between companies and potential customers,” Curtis Langlotz, MD, PhD, RSNA’s board liaison for IT and the annual meeting, said in a statement.
The all-online event is slated to take place from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5, while virtual exhibits will remain available until April 30 of next year.
SimonMed inks prostate AI deal
Radiology provider SimonMed has inked a deal to use one of CorTechs Labs’ solutions in its regular clinical practice, the two companies announced recently.
Under the agreement, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based imaging firm said it plans to widely deploy RSI-MRI+ for Prostate across “many” of its practice locations. Cleared by the FDA, the software supports radiologists in detecting clinically significant prostate cancer by harnessing artificial intelligence and an advanced diffusion MRI technique.
In a statement, CEO John Simon, MD, called the deal an “important step” for his radiology practice, and said he expects the tool to improve both cancer detection accuracy and PI-RADS workflows. SimonMed labels itself as one of the largest outpatient imaging providers in the U.S., employing more than 200 radiologists across 150-plus facilities in nine states.
Change Healthcare to acquire Nucleus.io
Change Healthcare has reached a deal to acquire NucleusHealth’s cloud-based imaging management platform, the firms announced.
Nucleus.io is a “state-of-the-art” tech tool that includes a zero-footprint diagnostic viewer with patented streaming, workflow and image-sharing solutions. Change said the acquisition will help speed up its development of a cloud based, end-to-end enterprise imaging solution.
“Now more than ever, customers are seeking ways to lower cost, reduce complexity, protect their patient data, and deliver the best care possible. Our next-generation Enterprise Imaging Network platform helps meet those needs in ways not previously possible and delivers exceptional value to our customers,” Tracy Byers, senior VP and general manager of enterprise imaging at Nashville-based Change, said in a statement.
Nucleus.io is currently used by more than 7,500 organizations across the U.S. and it’s onboarding an additional 150 organizations each month, the companies said.
FDA clears Siemens’ AI assistants
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently cleared two of Siemens Healthineers’ artificial intelligence-based software assistants.
Those include AI-Rad Companions for Brain MR for Morphometry Analysis, and Prostate MR for Biopsy support, both aimed at freeing radiologists from routine activities during magnetic resonance imaging.
“These new AI-Rad Companion applications for MR exams in the brain and prostate regions will help physicians manage their workloads and achieve a patient-focused decision-making process to increase efficiency and improve the quality of care,” Peter Shen, VP of innovation and digital business at Siemens Healthineers North America, said in an Aug. 19 statement.
Rapid Fire
Here are a few more radiology vendor news items of note, in rapid fashion:
- Israeli imaging disrupter Nanox raised $165.2 million from its recent initial public offering.
- Tampa, Florida, imaging practice Tower Radiology has partnered with vendor OpenDoctor to offer 24/7 online scheduling.
- Carestream Health recently launched a new long-length digital radiography detector.
- And finally, Sectra recently signed an enterprise-imaging contract to deploy its offerings throughout Michigan Medicine.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.