lifeIMAGE Acquires Mammosphere, an Innovative Network Enhancing Women’s Health Through Mammography Image Exchange

Patient-Focused Network Enables Sharing of Women’s Imaging to Improve
Breast Cancer Screening and Detection, and Reduce Treatment Costs

NEWTON, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lifeIMAGE, the nation’s largest medical image exchange platform that
enables imaging data interoperability across healthcare networks,
providers and patients, today announced that it has acquired Mammosphere,
the leading national medical exchange network specializing in
mammography and women’s imaging. Through this acquisition, the
Mammosphere network, which provides hospitals, imaging centers and
patients with electronic access to prior mammograms, will be made
available to healthcare providers currently utilizing the lifeIMAGE
platform with the goal of improving access to comparison studies and
enhancing the effectiveness of breast cancer screening programs.

With an estimated sixty million women in the United States undergoing
regular breast cancer screenings, Mammography Quality Standards Act
(MQSA) certified imaging centers perform nearly forty million
mammography procedures each year. It is not uncommon for women to move
between medical facilities, or to new cities or states, during their
recommended mammographic age. The Mammosphere network saves providers
time, energy and resources by allowing them to securely access an
individual patient’s prior exams, regardless of timing or location of
the performed study.

“The availability of prior mammograms is critical to the early and
accurate diagnosis of breast cancer,” said Kathryn Pearson Peyton, MD,
Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Medical Officer of
Mammosphere, who will now lead the women’s health and imaging advisory
committee at lifeIMAGE. “By leveraging the market-leading network and
technology built by lifeIMAGE, the reach of the Mammosphere image
exchange network will dramatically expand so more women and healthcare
providers can benefit from breast cancer screening programs with lower
absolute rates of false-positive outcomes and repeat diagnostics.”

Additionally, using the vendor-neutral Mammosphere network, providers
can allow patients to take a more active role in their treatment and
ensure continuity of care by making tests performed at their facilities
available to patients for their personal use via secure, online
accounts. With this access, patients can easily share imaging studies
with new providers and can store and access additional ultrasounds, MRIs
and PET/CTs at any time. This is particularly useful to patients who are
at risk for breast cancer, are one of the millions of women in the
United States diagnosed with breast cancer, or have plans to change
providers.

Breast imaging centers utilizing the Mammosphere network have
demonstrated significant improvements to the efficiency and
effectiveness of their breast cancer screening programs. After the
introduction of Mammosphere at one facility in 2015, there was a 48
percent reduction in mammograms read without prior comparison, and a 73
percent decrease in patient callbacks due to false-positive findings.
These impressive improvements in the quality of care prevented the cost
of unnecessary imaging and testing, kept new screening exams on schedule
for the center, and, most importantly, saved patients weeks of emotional
turbulence and unwarranted concern about their outcome.

“lifeIMAGE is focused on improving the quality of care experienced by
patients and bringing services to the market that make a difference in
people’s lives,” said Matthew A. Michela, Chief Executive Officer and
President of lifeIMAGE. “Furthering the Mammosphere mission will help
the women’s health and radiology experts within our network improve the
efficiency and outcomes of mammography screening programs and improve
patients’ safety and satisfaction while reducing unnecessary medical
spending.”

For more information on the lifeIMAGE 4.0 platform visit www.lifeimage.com.

About lifeIMAGE
lifeIMAGE is an interoperable medical image
sharing network that helps healthcare providers access their patients’
imaging records, regardless of where exams are performed or stored. It
has been adopted by more than 120 multi-site health systems across the
country to improve care coordination for patient consultations,
referrals and transfers. This enables providers to improve the quality
and timeliness of care, expand referral business, and eliminate wasteful
spending.

Contacts

MSLGROUP Boston
Don Fluckinger or Erin Anthoine, 781-684-0770
lifeIMAGE@mslgroup.com