Intelerad Medical Systems, a provider of enterprise imaging solutions, has acquired Life Image, one of the largest image exchange networks of curated clinical and imaging data. Intelerad said the merger creates the largest medical image exchange network in the world.
Founded in 2008, Life Image had created a digital platform to connect 13,000 facilities with more than 160,000 U.S. providers and 58,000 global clinics. Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C. and Montreal, Intelerad has over 900 employees located in offices across six countries serving nearly 2,500 healthcare organizations around the world.
“Bringing together two of the industry’s leading image exchange providers further solidifies Intelerad’s commitment to helping clinicians and patients lead the revolution in imaging from a world of siloed PACS to a future of interoperable image exchange,” said Mike Lipps, Intelerad CEO.
Intelerad has grown significantly through acquisition. In October 2021, it bought Ambra Health, the maker of cloud-based medical image management suite, for an undisclosed sum. Along with Intelerad’s PACS, New York-based Ambra brought a cloud vendor-neutral archive, image exchange functionality, and research and pathology capabilities to the Intelerad portfolio. That deal marked Intelerad’s fourth acquisition in 2021. Other acquisitions included Heart Imaging Technologies, Insignia Medica Systems, and Digisonics.
In August 2022, Intelerad also announced its acquisition of PenRad Technologies Inc. (PenRad), a software provider for enhancing productivity for breast imaging and lung screening. The acquisition was made to Intelerad’s product offerings for mammography and lung analytics, optimizing workflows for radiologists and boosting health outcomes for patients.
In a press release, others weighed in on the announcement. “As an advocate for radiology’s critical role in health equity, I am so encouraged by the announcement of this expanded network and its commitment to interoperability,” said Geraldine McGinty, M.D., past president of the American College of Radiology, in a statement. “Patients and physicians alike need an easy way to share images and this is an important first step toward enabling vendors to work together as they should.” McGinty is an assistant professor of radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College and assistant atending Radiologist at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Campus.
Adam Gale, CEO of KLAS Research, noted that his firm’s recent Enterprise Imaging Summit, interoperability of imaging data was a top concern expressed by many healthcare systems. “As healthcare continues to evolve, the dedication to interoperability becomes critical to advancing the industry,” he said, “While the future is unknown, we are hopeful this move to enhance the sharing of images will benefit all patients.”
With this transaction, Intelerad and Life Image serve many of the largest medical institutions in the world, including Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and New York Presbyterian Hospital. The combined network manages over 80 billion images globally, enabling 24/7 digital image sharing from any device wherever the provider or patient may be.
