Top academic medical center to leverage leading breast health data tool to improve breast screening protocols for groundbreaking study
BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Life Image, the world’s largest medical imaging network, announced that it will provide Mammosphere, a breast health data access tool, to the University of Chicago Medicine to support recruitment for a pioneering research effort.
This leading academic medical center, which performed more than 14,000 outpatient mammography exams in 2018, serves a unique and diverse patient base across the Chicagoland area. It is the first Midwest expansion partner site for the WISDOM Study, a large-scale clinical trial aimed at developing optimal guidelines for breast cancer screening.
Mammosphere, a HIPAA-compliant, digital tool that allows women to securely request, store, and share breast images and reports with providers, will allow University of Chicago Medicine to bolster the accessibility and availability of prior breast health records. It creates a longitudinal view of the individual patient’s breast history to track changes over time, providing the historical medical records that are integral to support the WISDOM Study.
Life Image is also providing UChicago Medicine with the ability to streamline access to picture archiving communication systems (PACS) and electronic health record (EHR) systems in order to modernize processes for sharing information with patients. As WISDOM participation in the Chicago area increases, UChicago Medicine will be able to more effectively manage a high volume of requests from participants to receive and share breast health records without delay at its locations and affiliate sites.
The WISDOM Study aims to recruit 100,000 women in order to improve breast cancer screening guidelines. The study follows participants over time to determine whether a personalized, risk-based screening protocol can improve clinical outcomes when compared to the current, one-size-fits-all approach to screening.
“As a partner of the WISDOM Study, we are committed to supporting the research that will end the confusion for all women around screening guidelines based on patients’ unique risk factors,” said Deepa Sheth, MD, Assistant Professor of Radiology, UChicago Medicine. “In the era of precision medicine, we have the opportunity to find the correct breast health screening protocol for an individual based on their risk, and by engaging our diverse community we can be certain the data and results are ethnically universal and applicable to any and all women.”
Mammosphere was developed to support women throughout their entire breast health journey, including contributing to scientific research. By offering patients this digital tool, patients in the WISDOM Study will have additional tools to support their long-term commitment to the research.
“It is an honor to work with one of the country’s top academic medical centers to provide the digital platform that enables this groundbreaking study,” said Matthew Michela, CEO, Life Image. “Life Image, UChicago Medicine, and the WISDOM Study are committed to working in tandem to answer critical questions to improve women’s breast health and the patient experience.”
WISDOM is a five-year longitudinal study that compares two different approaches to breast cancer screening – personalized screening versus annual screening. The personalized screening approach will take multiple risk factors into consideration, including genetic markers, to determine the most effective screening frequency and modality for an individual. Over time, the WISDOM Study hopes to discover which risk factors are most important, allowing regulators and providers to improve our screening recommendations accordingly. To learn more about the WISDOM Study, or sign up, please visit www.wisdomstudy.org.
