Nuance has acquired Accelarad, an Atlanta-based company that offers image sharing technology through a cloud-based platform, for an undisclosed amount.
The move by Nuance signals an expansion of offerings outside its traditional realm for the Burlington Mass.-based voice recognition technology company. With the acquisition, it launched a cloud-based network to connect physicians, patients, government agencies, specialty medical societies, and others to share medical images and reports. The service, called PowerShare, will be an extension of the company's PowerScribe network, which is the company's traditional voice recognition technology, used by radiology professionals.
“Integrated image and report sharing helps us deliver quality care and drive down costs especially when patients transfer from one facility to another. Whether at their desktop or on their mobile device, our physicians can see the study that was done along with the interpretive report, which provides the information they need to treat the patient and avoid duplicate testing,” Deborah Gash, vice president and CIO at Saint Luke's Health System in Kansas City, said in a statement. “By integrating this with our EHR, PowerShare will enable physicians to manage inbound imaging through one point of access and login. Physicians in our 11 hospitals and 100-mile radius referral network see this cutting-edge technology as a way to deliver the highest level of patient care,” she adds.
As the company expands its offering beyond its traditional voice recognition technology, Nuance's healthcare-related revenue continue to climb. Last year, its ranking in the Healthcare Informatics 100 climbed from 20th to 14th.
