Longhorn Imaging partners with AI startup to add full-body MRI at 12 locations
Longhorn Imaging is teaming with AI startup Ezra to add a full-body MRI service across its 12 locations in Texas, the two announced July 25.
This marks the 12th metro area launch for New York-based Ezra, with the Austin area its “most requested city to date.” The company now has 39 clinic locations offering an artificial intelligence-backed service that can search for 500 conditions across 13 organs.
First launched in 2014, Longhorn Imaging bills itself as a “leading” outpatient imaging network in Texas.
“Longhorn has always prioritized providing patients with the best possible radiology experience—and as so many of them have asked for a service like Ezra, we’re thrilled to be launching this partnership,” CEO David Avery said in an announcement.
Earlier this year, Ezra ballooned its fundraising total to $41 million, with plans to add 50 locations in 20 North American cities. The company and its partners offer a 60-minute, $1,950 full-body MRI exam to healthcare consumers hoping to unearth cancers and other conditions before they become symptomatic. Ezra also inked a partnership Rayus Radiology in April to spread the service to the private equity-backed imaging provider’s 150 locations nationwide.
To date, Ezra has caught cancer on about 6% of its customers’ exams. The company is part of an increasingly crowded marketplace for whole-body MRIs, which also includes Scottsdale, Arizona, radiology practice SimonMed Imaging and fellow startup Prenuvo. The latter is backed by supermodel investor Cindy Crawford and was endorsed on social media by Kim Kardashian.
“Early detection of cancer can save lives; many of our members have received an Ezra scan, found cancer, sought treatment, and are now cancer-free. We are excited to continue fighting cancer in Texas and beyond,” Emi Gal, founder and CEO of Ezra, said in the announcement.
The American College of Radiology does not recommend MRI screening in individuals without symptoms, the Associated Press reported earlier this month. ACR noted that there is “no documented evidence” that the service is “cost-efficient or effective in prolonging life.” Prenuvo launched a clinical trial in June to prove just that.
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.