GE, RadNet pair up for breast cancer detection

GE Healthcare has partnered with RadNet, a network of outpatient diagnostic imaging centers, to pilot its Best Pathways initiative, a breast cancer detection model.

Best Pathways is designed to address a need for increased insight into the breast cancer detection process—from a patient's initial screening mammogram to final biopsy, according to the companies. The program will focus on subpopulations of women in which guidelines are lacking and variability is observed in clinical practice.

In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) tightened recommendations for breast cancer screenings across multiple patient populations, citing lack of evidence supporting benefits and high cost of the screenings as primary factors.

GE and RadNet will seek to identify and quantify diagnostic costs per cancer detected, the types of breast cancer detected and their stage distribution, the number of imaging tests and biopsies required to detect each cancer and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios for each diagnostic case. Diagnostic patterns will be identified based on patient population characteristics including age, risk of developing breast cancer and breast density. The program also will seek to define optimal diagnostic paths for patient care based on rigorous data and analysis.