LONDON: Medica Group, the UK market leader in teleradiology services, and Qure.ai, a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for radiology, announced a strategic partnership to develop AI tools for prioritisation and improved efficiency of radiology scan workload.

Under the terms of the agreement, Medica will partner with Qure.ai in two important areas:

• The first is to launch a decision support tool for CT (computed tomography) head scan examinations. This tool will flag potential urgent examinations allowing prioritisation of reporting based on clinical priority as opposed to chronological allocation. The tool will also highlight potentially critical findings to reporters, which can be integrated into their diagnoses. The tool will be trialed and implemented to augment Medica’s urgent, out-of-hours NightHawk service.
• The second area is to co-develop a bespoke AI-based automated workflow improvement tool that aims to improve the efficiency of study allocation from NHS clients to Medica’s network of over 435 reporters.

Stuart Quin, Chief Executive Officer of Medica commented: “Medica has been actively following the development of decision support tools using artificial intelligence to better understand the benefit to our clients. As we indicated in September 2019, our focus has been on areas that can have an immediate improvement to workflow and can support clinical decision making. As a leader in artificial intelligence solutions for radiology with an impressive track record of successful deployment in teleradiology workflows, backed up by peer-reviewed studies, Qure.ai is an ideal partner.”

Prashant Warier, Chief Executive Officer of Qure.ai commented: “We are excited to partner with Medica, the UK’s leading provider of teleradiology reporting, and we look forward to working with their team to realise the benefits of artificial intelligence in this important market. The tools being developed for Medica will improve efficiencies and support their strong network of highly skilled radiologists and radiographers.”