By Liv Osby

Prisma Health on Tuesday announced a 10-year partnership with Siemens Healthineers to use artificial intelligence to help physicians better diagnose their patients and devise treatment plans.

The partnership means employing the latest technology across all Prisma sites, said CEO Mark O’Halla.

“The whole goal of this relationship is leveraging technology and our relationships with each other to significantly improve access … by improving productivity and throughput,” he said. “We are leveraging all the artificial intelligence expertise that Siemens is bringing to the table and teaming up with clinicians.” 

The idea is that clinicians will make more informed decisions, ultimately allowing for faster and more precise diagnoses and treatment plans, he said.

The arrangement, whose financial details were not disclosed, will focus on next generation medical technology, said Dave Pacitti, president and head of the Americas for Siemens Healthineers, the parent company for several medical technology companies.

The initiative calls for new imaging systems, such as MRI and CT scanners, across the health care system, as well as new robotic technology to be used in interventional procedures, he said. While it can be used to place stents in cardiac patients now, it’s hoped it can be used in neurology eventually, such as for stroke procedures, he said. 

So if someone has been sent for a chest X-ray or CT to look for pneumonia, artificial intelligence now looks for other things, for example a nodule, he said.

“We are trying to make the entire Prisma system more efficient, and improve the overall patient experience,” he said. “This will help clinicians with the decision-making process, speed it up, and make sure they’re improving outcomes.”

Some of the artificial intelligence (AI) will be embedded in the machines as software while other AI will be developed in partnership with Prisma, Pacitti said.

While the equipment is new, its purchase is planned over time, he said. Meanwhile, reducing repeat scans through autocorrecting for things like a sneeze during an MRI will take costs out of the system, he said.

The arrangement also calls for training and education of the workforce, he said. 

Siemens will also have health economists on site to study new technologies to see if they’re affordable to help reduce health care costs, he said.

The arrangement calls for development of an Intelligence Insights Center to study software to see if it brings value, and to serve as an incubator for development of new artificial intelligence algorithms, he said. 

“Working together brings breakthrough opportunities to enhance clinical care through the latest medical technology, streamlining our processes, and bringing new advances in disease prevention, early diagnosis and treatment,” O’Halla said.