Radiology practice SimonMed Imaging launches breast AI program charging $40 a pop
Radiology practice SimonMed Imaging has launched a new service that charges women $40 to have artificial intelligence assess their mammograms.
Dubbed the Personalized Breast Cancer Detection program or PBCD, SimonMed is offering the product as an add-on to regular 3D breast cancer screenings. The Scottsdale, Arizona-based practice tells customers that PBCD patients will benefit from faster results, detailed breast density recommendations, a personalized risk assessment and “tailored action plan.”
“Our AI-driven platform is designed to help patients, and their healthcare providers, make more informed decisions, enhancing early detection and improving outcomes,” John Simon, MD, CEO and founder, said in a statement.
SimonMed follows in the footsteps of publicly traded outpatient imaging center operator RadNet Inc., which launched its own mammography AI enhancement a few years ago. Enhanced Breast Cancer Detection, or EBCD, charges women $40 out of pocket to have AI assess their breast images (down from the original fee of $60). Los Angeles-based RadNet delivered about 1.6 million mammograms in 2023, with leaders estimating its AI segment could generate upward of $18 million, much of it from EBCD.
RadNet presented research about the program at RSNA 2024 in Chicago. The study involved women treated across 10 healthcare practices, with about 36% opting to pay for AI. Those who did were about 21% more likely to have their cancer detected than those who did not.
“These data indicate that many women are eager to utilize AI to enhance their screening mammogram, and when AI is coupled with a safeguard review, more cancers are found,” study senior author Gregory Sorensen, MD, RadNet’s chief science officer, said in December.
SimonMed noted that it has been offering AI-based breast-screening enhancements since 2019 but only recently started charging with the launch of PBCD. Dr. Simon also touted the service’s ability to determine whether women will benefit from supplemental imaging such as breast MRI or ultrasound. The practice believes physicians are benefiting from the program, too.
“The biggest improvement we have seen with using AI in our screenings is the confidence it brings to both radiologists and patients,” Angela Fried, MD, director of women’s imaging, said in the announcement. “AI has become a game-changer, providing significant patient benefits in screenings.”
Founded in 2003, SimonMed deploys about 200 radiologists, billing itself as “one of the largest outpatient medical imaging providers and largest physician radiology practices in the United States.” The group inked a $600 million partnership with New York private equity firm American Securities in 2021 and has grown steadily since then, now operating 170 sites across 11 states. SimonMed also offers an elective, whole-body MRI service called SimonOne, similar to the one delivered by startups Prenuvo and Ezra.
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.