Cover Story

At the best of times, bringing at-risk and underserved patients in for routine breast cancer screening can be a complex proposition. But during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, when elective imaging procedures were shelved as all of the health care world shifted to battling the virus, a new wrinkle emerged.

When the latest and greatest technologies don’t solve all your problems on their own, what’s necessary to manage them becomes grounded in different kinds of decision-making.

The weight of discussions about the acquisition of medical imaging equipment frequently is given over to questions of financing, budget cycles, clinical stakeholder interests and revenue. What may be further down the list of considerations, however, are details about the physical environment in which those devices will be housed and from within which they must function.

Every imaging practice relies on a comprehensive reimbursement process to maintain its bottom line. From the largest and busiest to the smallest and least utilized setting, the fundamental, underlying mechanics of the medical imaging space turn on timely payments after services are rendered.

“What are the things that everyone wants to see done better and which can be handled by technology?” he asked. “That’s where we’re going to see the greatest adoption of AI in our industry.”

Although rural America accounts for about 14 percent of the United States, or some 46 million people, it’s a population that’s always been difficult to reach with services, be they transportation, electricity, broadband Internet or health care. As emergent demographic trends now suggest that it’s shrinking even further in the wake of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the challenges of delivering access to the same level of care that Americans in more densely populated areas can reach are growing further complicated.