Envision Healthcare has inked a deal to acquire Imaging Advantage, a move that will boost its presence in radiology physician services. Financial details were not disclosed.
Formed by AmSurg and Envision’s merger last December, the acquirer provides physician-led services, ambulatory surgery services, post-acute care and medical transportation. Imaging Advantage offers a cloud-based platform connecting more than 500 radiologists across 450 health facilities in 26 states. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter.
“We believe the merger with Envision creates a valuable, integrated platform for radiologists and leverages our innovative radiology care model,” said Imaging Advantage CEO Naseer Hashim in a statement. “ … The merger will enable us to more effectively preserve and advance the intrinsic and important role of providers in their local communities, while managing relationships with health systems and enhancing service levels for referring physicians.”
“What [Imaging Advantage] does is similar to the business models of Amazon, Airbnb and Uber. We deploy innovative algorithms to match supply and demand in the cloud to turn … waste into value,” Hashim said in a 2015 Forbes interview.
Connecting radiologists and hospitals in its cloud platform gives each facility access to hundreds of physicians, rather than the few each has onsite. This can cut image turnaround times and, in turn, reduce wait times in emergency rooms and a patient’s hospital stay, he said.
In December 2015, Imaging Advantage partnered with RadNet, which operates outpatient radiology centers, to bring cloud-based radiology services to centers across the country.