Intelerad Medical Systems and Life Image are merging in a deal – terms of which were not disclosed – that the companies say will create the largest medical image exchange network.
Advancing medical image interoperability is a key data exchange goal of the 21st Century Cures Act.
Intelerad, the Raleigh, North Carolina- and Montreal-based enterprise imaging provider hopes to advance access to digital health information by combining two of the largest image-sharing networks, and ensuring open access between networks.
This past year, Intelerad acquired Ambra Health, a step that Morris Panner, Intelerad president and former Ambra CEO, says more rapidly achieves a joining vision of a nationwide electronic image network in the announcement.
Connecting 13,000 facilities with more than 160,000 U.S. providers and 58,000 global clinics, Life Image is the only medical evidence network providing large-scale, heterogeneous, de-identified imaging sets that are linkable to longitudinal data for medical research.
Together, Intelerad and Life Image manage more than 80 billion images worldwide, and are used by blue chip health systems such as Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic and NewYork Presbyterian.
“Bringing together two of the industry’s leading image exchange providers further solidifies Intelerad’s commitment to helping clinicians and patients lead the revolution in imaging from a world of siloed PACS to a future of interoperable image exchange,” said Intelerad CEO Mike Lipps in a statement.
“As an advocate for radiology’s critical role in health equity, I am so encouraged by the announcement of this expanded network and its commitment to interoperability,” added Dr. Geraldine McGinty, past President of the American College of Radiology in a statement shared by the companies.
The merger lays further groundwork for the continuing elimination of costly CD-ROMs as the primary means of image transfer, and to help support the healthcare industry’s interoperability goals.
Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.
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