An early, and accurate, diagnosis can help clinicians catch diseases in their initial stages, making treatment more effective.
This is precisely why Brentwood, Tennessee-based LifePoint Health and health technology company Eon have entered into a five-year agreement. Together, they will develop new solutions to drive the earlier detection of diseases, said Bart Daugherty, assistant vice president of clinical technology at LifePoint Health, in an email.
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The new agreement builds on a collaboration that began in 2018, when LifePoint Health started using Eon’s technology to improve screening for lung cancer in an initiative dubbed the Healthy Lung Program. LifePoint initially piloted the program in three of its communities, eventually expanding it to all 88 of its hospital campuses across the country.
Now, LifePoint and Denver-based Eon will leverage their success with that program to enable earlier diagnoses for other diseases in a new initiative: the Healthy Person Program.
Eon is integrated within LifePoint’s EMRs and receives all reports for imaging exams performed, said Christine Spraker, co-CEO of Eon, in an email. The reports are then run through artificial intelligence models to determine if there are any abnormal findings and clinically relevant information.
For the Healthy Lung Program, Eon’s technology was used to identify patients at risk for lung cancer, who could then be brought in for a screening.
“As the product portfolio expands, LifePoint will provide subject matter experts who [will] help determine appropriate care pathways for new abnormalities and chronic diseases,” Spraker said.
The technology also enables patient tracking, providing automatic reminders for patients who need to be scheduled for follow-up visits, among other services.
The new Healthy Person Program will continue to focus on data found within radiology reports to identify diseases and potential health risks earlier, LifePoint’s Daugherty said.
It will expand, however, to include the detection and management of aortic aneurysms, and eventually, thyroid, pancreatic and breast cancers.
“The identification and care pathways created will eventually lead to the overall management of complex chronic disease spanning multiple patient populations,” Daugherty said.
“We also will continue to ensure that our patients and providers are notified with recommended pathways based on leading practices and clinical guidelines,” he added.
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