Aultman partners with Eon to enhance cancer detection

Aultman Hospital announced a collaboration with Eon to strengthen the identification and follow-up care of cancer patients.

“Aultman is deeply committed to the early detection of cancer,” said Eric Olyejar, M.D., medical director of the Aultman Cancer Center. “Through this partnership we are further investing in efforts that support cancer screening and the management of incidentally discovered imaging abnormalities, which are often the first sign of an underlying condition.”

Aultman will make use of Eon’s AI-powered platform, supported by care navigators, to analyze radiologist-dictated reports, identify clinically relevant findings and ensure all patients receive appropriate follow-up care. According to Eon, this unlocks huge efficiencies for providers and patient care teams, who no longer have to manually review charts or select the appropriate care plan.

An incidental finding is an abnormality identified on an imaging exam that was ordered for an unrelated reason. Each year 200-300 million radiology scans are performed in the U.S., and 40% include an incidental finding. For example, 95% of pulmonary nodules are found incidentally, but only 30% of them receive guideline-driven follow-up care. That means patients who may have cancer are being missed every day.

Actively identifying, tracking and managing follow-up on these findings enables hospitals and health systems to intervene at the earliest sign of cancer, when the chance of survival is the highest.

“Eon was founded with the mission of saving lives, giving people as many tomorrows as possible," said Dr. Scott Skibo, chief medical officer with Eon. "We partner with hospitals and health systems like Aultman to do this by ensuring that every patient, no matter how they are identified, receives the follow-up and care they need. Expanding early detection programs to include incidental findings improves patient outcomes by reaching a clinically important population that may be missed in a screening-only approach.”