The medical image exchange platform lifeIMAGE has received a $5 million strategic investment from Zaffre Investments, which is the investment arm of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA). As part of the deal, Zaffre’s Vice President, Steven J. Fox, will serve as board observer at lifeIMAGE, and will help identify opportunities to connect providers and patients in the BCBSMA network with their imaging studies via 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. This — lifeIMAGE claims — leads to faster, higher quality care, and lower rates of harmful and costly repeat testing. The lifeIMAGE network has been adopted by more than 120 multi-site health systems across the country, including the leading providers in Massachusetts, to improve care coordination for patient consultations, referrals and transfers.
In total, nearly 450 hospitals now use lifeIMAGE, and another 700 have joined the network to exchange those images with other members.“Health providers and health plans are both seeing significant value associated with image sharing,” said Hamid Tabatabaie, lifeIMAGE CEO and co-founder. “Physicians need to be made aware of when their patients’ imaging tests become available, even when they are performed outside their health system. We continue to build out and enhance this intelligent, interoperable health data network and are excited to expand our strategic partnerships with industry leaders who share in our vision.”
The platform supports large implementations at academic medical centers, pediatric facilities, certified trauma centers, oncology centers of excellence, and imaging providers by combining local network image sharing with a medical-grade secure cloud. This allows multidisciplinary care teams to more easily access their patients’ imaging records, as well as share them with doctors and specialists outside a health system’s network. The platform is typically leveraged by clinicians in disciplines such as orthopedics, neurology, cardiology, oncology, pulmonology, surgery, pediatrics, critical care, radiology and others.
In total, nearly 450 hospitals now use lifeIMAGE, and another 700 have joined the network to exchange those images with other members, for a combined total that exceeds 1,100, or nearly one in five registered U.S. hospitals. The 90,000 lifeIMAGE clinical users represent all 50 U.S. states and more than 90 countries; healthcare providers so far have shared more than two billion medical images through the lifeIMAGE network.
The company secured its previous investment of $17.5 million in May.