Philips and Norwegian Vestre Viken Health Trust deploy AI-enabled clinical care to help radiologists improve patient care

The ongoing shortage of skilled radiologists and a high level of staff burn-out in many countries, including Norway, makes it more important than ever for clinicians to make efficient use of their time and effectively prioritize patients in need. Clinicians need workflow-enhancing solutions to manage growing workloads amidst staff shortages and help to deliver consistency and speed time to diagnosis and treatment, all while enhancing patient outcomes. 

As part of a framework agreement with Philips, Norwegian healthcare provider Vestre Viken Health Trust uses Philips AI Manager, a cloud-based AI-enabled clinical applications platform. The large-scale deployment includes an AI-based bone fracture radiology application that will serve the needs of around half a million people across 22 Norwegian municipalities. Over a 4-year term with possible extension, the agreement has the potential to deliver clinical AI solutions to around 3.8 million people (70% of the Norwegian population) at 30 hospitals across the country’s four major regional healthcare authorities. It represents the largest and most comprehensive agreement for Philips to deploy enterprise-wide AI across a healthcare system in Europe.

“Applying Artificial Intelligence in our Radiology Department has surpassed our expectations. Besides improving patient flows, and quality of care to our patients, we have found that AI even finds fractures that doctors overlooked”, said Cecilie B. Løken, Technology Director at Vestre Viken Health Trust. “AI will become a central input factor in the healthcare services of the future, to drive efficient and good patient care.”

Reduced workload for staff and less waiting time for patients

Vestre Viken Health Trust’s radiologists spend most of their scan viewing time just to determine there is no fracture. That time can be used on diagnosing more subtle fractures where a radiologist’s experience and expertise are essential. For patients admitted to its emergency departments with suspected bone fractures, AI can reduce waiting time. Patients receive the benefits of a faster diagnosis, while radiologists benefit from a less stressful and more rewarding working environment.

“There is a pressing need to ease the burden on radiologists. By incorporating AI into our clinical applications and expanding access to third-party AI with an end-to-end platform, we help radiologists to be faster and more efficient, reducing routine work and offering advanced diagnostic support, leading to better clinical outcomes and patient care,” said Martijn Hartjes, Business Leader Clinical Informatics at Philips.

Accelerated workflow for bone fractures

The AI application initially deployed by Philips at Vestre Viken Health Trust hospitals automatically identifies radiography scans in which there is no immediate evidence of a fracture, so that radiologists can focus on more complex, difficult, and urgent cases. In all cases, radiologists can accept or reject the results before sending them to the hospital PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System). Expanding upon AI applications of Advanced Visualization Workspace, Philips AI Manager enables integrated access to third-party AI algorithms [1]. The application fits seamlessly into Vestre Viken hospitals’ existing radiology workflow, automatically routing medical images and other data to selected AI applications and returning the results to accelerate diagnosis and treatment. AI applications for radiology, cardiology, and neuroradiology are accessible to radiology through the Philips AI Manager platform.

Scaling AI applications for radiology

Philips AI Manager expands Philips clinical applications for radiology which include image processing, intelligent algorithms, advanced visualization and AI to help radiologists overcome the difficulties posed by high-volume workloads to analyze both routine and complex cases with efficiency and precision. In addition to AI applications integrated directly into Philips systems and clinical applications, there are numerous third-party AI applications available in the market that bring benefits to radiology departments. Philips AI Manager is a cloud-based solution that offers radiology departments access to a broad range of AI applications from multiple vendors. Available in the ecosystem of Blackford, it can assist with the diagnostic reading of images and easily implement multi-vendor AI into their workflows.

Philips AI Manager and Advanced Visualization Workspace will be demonstrated in the Philips booth (#6730) at the Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting (RSNA 2023, November 26-29 in Chicago, USA). To learn more, visit Philips at RSNA 2023 and follow @PhilipsLiveFrom for #RSNA23 updates throughout the event.

[1] Availability of 3rd party applications may vary per market. Philips acts as agent for the AI applications. All applications available on the AI Manager platform are the responsibility of Blackford.