OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute and Breakthrough Treatment Center (Photo courtesy of OSF HealthCare)
OSF HealthCare to develop more robust care delivery models with GE HealthCare and Pointcore
February 23, 2024
by John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter
As part of a ten-year partnership, GE HealthCare will streamline clinical and operational practices across OSF HealthCare hospitals in Illinois and Michigan through the deployment of new diagnostic imaging and digital technologies, starting with the launch of the OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute and Breakthrough Treatment Center this spring.
The company will work in collaboration with Pointcore, a healthcare management and nonclinical shared services company owned by OSF HealthCare, in this work, developing new care delivery models in nuclear medicine, oncology, and radiology that will make care more personalized and precise and allow the provider to address the needs of the more than one million patients it annually sees faster.
Along with new medical imaging scanners, GE HealthCare will integrate AI technologies, including Air Recon DL and Sonic DL softwares for MR image reconstruction, and Effortless Workflow for CT workflow. It will also install its enterprise digital platform, Imaging 360, for performance management initiatives across care sites; and its new version of Digital Expert Access with remote scanning, an FDA-cleared solution that facilitates remote patient scanning on GE HealthCare MR scanners.
Founded and operated by the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, the Catholic-based OSF HealthCare system is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, and is made up of 16 hospitals with 2,131 licensed beds. It employs nearly 24,000 workers (known as Mission Partners) at 158 locations. Pointcore oversees its capital and resource investments for technology deployment; healthcare technology management services; supply chain processes; business operations; and construction services.
The OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute and Breakthrough Treatment Center will facilitate clinical trials, radiation oncology, hematology, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and surgical oncology for cancer patients, and be equipped with MR scanners, CT, PET, X-ray, 3D mammography, ultrasound, and other forms of diagnostic imaging. It will also include research spaces, exam rooms, laboratories, pharmacy, and a diagnostic center, and will offer advanced treatments within radiation oncology and nuclear medicine, including proton therapy, image-guided radiotherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, and intensity-modulated radiotherapy, and theranostics.
"While our partnership will impact all of OSF’s service lines, a key area of focus for our Ministry is the expansion of oncology services with the planned opening of the new OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute and Breakthrough Treatment Center. GE’s technology, coupled with our efforts on a comprehensive Theranostics program, will enhance our oncology service line and drive the future of personalized and precision medicine," Jim Mormann, CEO of OSF HealthCare Integrated Solutions and Pointcore, told HCB News.
Together, GE HealthCare and Pointcore will establish healthcare technology management services to better track the use and maintenance of OSF Health’s equipment and use advanced analytics to manage its investments and direct capital into technologies and resources that align with the needs of its patient population.
The digital technologies added will modernize the health system's technological infrastructure to align it with the newly established care delivery models. OSF HealthCare will be one of the first adopters of the new version of Digital Exert Access, which will enable technologists to share information and make decisions faster to reduce waiting times and care interruptions for patients. The Imaging 360 platform will allow it to monitor and scale its imaging ecosystem and make improvements to its radiology operations to accelerate productivity.
The approach, according to Mormann, creates a foundational alliance for investing in new technologies, digital tools, resources, services, and other necessities now and over the next decade.
"As the rapid pace of technology continues to drive healthcare, this strategy ensures ongoing technology scalability and upgradeability for the duration of the partnership," he said.
The collaborations are expected to begin in the Spring 2024.
The company will work in collaboration with Pointcore, a healthcare management and nonclinical shared services company owned by OSF HealthCare, in this work, developing new care delivery models in nuclear medicine, oncology, and radiology that will make care more personalized and precise and allow the provider to address the needs of the more than one million patients it annually sees faster.
Along with new medical imaging scanners, GE HealthCare will integrate AI technologies, including Air Recon DL and Sonic DL softwares for MR image reconstruction, and Effortless Workflow for CT workflow. It will also install its enterprise digital platform, Imaging 360, for performance management initiatives across care sites; and its new version of Digital Expert Access with remote scanning, an FDA-cleared solution that facilitates remote patient scanning on GE HealthCare MR scanners.
Founded and operated by the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, the Catholic-based OSF HealthCare system is headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, and is made up of 16 hospitals with 2,131 licensed beds. It employs nearly 24,000 workers (known as Mission Partners) at 158 locations. Pointcore oversees its capital and resource investments for technology deployment; healthcare technology management services; supply chain processes; business operations; and construction services.
The OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute and Breakthrough Treatment Center will facilitate clinical trials, radiation oncology, hematology, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and surgical oncology for cancer patients, and be equipped with MR scanners, CT, PET, X-ray, 3D mammography, ultrasound, and other forms of diagnostic imaging. It will also include research spaces, exam rooms, laboratories, pharmacy, and a diagnostic center, and will offer advanced treatments within radiation oncology and nuclear medicine, including proton therapy, image-guided radiotherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, and intensity-modulated radiotherapy, and theranostics.
"While our partnership will impact all of OSF’s service lines, a key area of focus for our Ministry is the expansion of oncology services with the planned opening of the new OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute and Breakthrough Treatment Center. GE’s technology, coupled with our efforts on a comprehensive Theranostics program, will enhance our oncology service line and drive the future of personalized and precision medicine," Jim Mormann, CEO of OSF HealthCare Integrated Solutions and Pointcore, told HCB News.
Together, GE HealthCare and Pointcore will establish healthcare technology management services to better track the use and maintenance of OSF Health’s equipment and use advanced analytics to manage its investments and direct capital into technologies and resources that align with the needs of its patient population.
The digital technologies added will modernize the health system's technological infrastructure to align it with the newly established care delivery models. OSF HealthCare will be one of the first adopters of the new version of Digital Exert Access, which will enable technologists to share information and make decisions faster to reduce waiting times and care interruptions for patients. The Imaging 360 platform will allow it to monitor and scale its imaging ecosystem and make improvements to its radiology operations to accelerate productivity.
The approach, according to Mormann, creates a foundational alliance for investing in new technologies, digital tools, resources, services, and other necessities now and over the next decade.
"As the rapid pace of technology continues to drive healthcare, this strategy ensures ongoing technology scalability and upgradeability for the duration of the partnership," he said.
The collaborations are expected to begin in the Spring 2024.