Artificial Intelligence Makes Its Way Into Nebraska Hospitals and Clinics

Artificial Intelligence can be used as a valuable tool to help keep patients from falling through the cracks.

Methodist, for instance, has several systems aimed at helping put additional eyes on lung scans.

One searches radiology reports from scans of, say, the abdomen, that incidentally catch part of the lung for key words like “nodule.” Those get sent to a team that determines whether there might be a problem, and if so, contacts the patient’s doctor, even those in other health systems, said Dr. Adam Wells, a pulmonologist with Methodist Physicians Clinic and Methodist Hospital.

That incidental nodule program flagged more than 13,000 scans last year, which triggered nearly 1,000 communications with a physician and ongoing follow-up with more than 700 patient scans, he said. Those identified nearly 30 cancers.

The health system also screens patients with a known risk for lung cancer using low-dose CT scans, Wells said. While radiologists read the scans, an AI program reads behind and categorizes any spots it sees. Nearly 20 cancers were identified last year out of more than 2,300 scheduled screening scans.

Omaha World-Herald: Artificial Intelligence Makes Its Way Into Nebraska Hospitals and Clinics