Hartford HealthCare in Connecticut has renewed its medical imaging partnership with GE HealthCare for another seven years.

The collaboration dates back to 2016 and includes AI and machine learning software deployments to enhance clinical expertise as well as upgrades through a phased approach of Hartford HealthCare’s CT, PET/CT, MR, X-ray, nuclear medicine, mammography, ultrasound, and OEC 3D surgical imaging C-arm solutions. GE HealthCare will also provide its most recent patient monitoring, anesthesia, maternal infant care, and diagnostic cardiology technologies.

As part of the agreement, GE HealthCare technicians will be available in-house for repairs and maintenance, and regular upgrades will be performed as well as build-in-place upgrades with some existing MR, CT, PET/CT, and X-rays to refresh older systems to minimize construction costs, waste, equipment downtime, and disruptions to patient care.

“This is especially important now, as technologies, equipment, and training are advancing at an ever-increasing pace,” said Karen Goyette, executive vice president and chief strategy and transformation officer, in a statement.

Hartford HealthCare is made up of nearly 500 locations, including two tertiary-level teaching hospitals, an acute-care community teaching hospital, an acute-care hospital and trauma center, three community hospitals, a behavioral health network, a multispecialty physician group, a clinical care organization, a regional home care system, an array of senior care services, a mobile neighborhood health program and a comprehensive physical therapy and rehabilitation network. It serves 185 towns and cities.

Many of the software and AI solutions will be deployed within various imaging modalities to accelerate speed of use and improve accuracy, including:

X-ray
GE HealthCare’s Critical Care Suite 2.0 will assess scans for signs of critical conditions, such as collapsed lungs or errors in chest X-ray acquisition, using AI-powered insights and analytics and provide feedback to ICU clinicians to help expedite diagnosis, optimize treatment decisions, and improve patient outcomes.

CT
GE HealthCare’s TrueFidelity CT image-reconstruction technology is powered by a deep neural network that improves reading confidence for head, whole-body, cardiovascular, and other anatomical applications for patients of all ages.

MR
Using AI, AIR Recon DL technology reconstructs MR images, improving the quality, speed, and workflow of the scanning process by reducing artifacts, increasing clarity, and facilitating faster acquisitions. This, in turn, improves patient comfort.

As part of the initial collaboration, the jointly created Care Logistics Center, formed in 2017, will match patients based on their needs with the best care regimens.

The renewal extends the collaboration to 2030.

Business Affairs Homepage