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GE Healthcare announced on Thursday it will acquire Intelerad’s enterprise cloud and imaging offerings next year.
By combining Intelerad’s hospital-based imaging capabilities with its own, GE Healthcare will create a unified cloud-first and artificial intelligence-enabled imaging services for diverse care settings – from large academic medical centers to expanding ambulatory networks, the company said.
WHY IT MATTERS
Privately-owned Intelerad, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Montreal, has built medical imaging software and digital enterprise workflow products and services for outpatient ambulatory settings, including those designed for radiology and cardiology that extend to inpatient care.
"Joining GE Healthcare marks an exciting new chapter for Intelerad," Jordan Bazinsky, the company's CEO, said in the announcement.
GE Healthcare said the Intelerad acquisition shows its continued commitment to cloud-enabled, AI-powered imaging offerings and brings the company one step closer to the goal of tripling its cloud-enabled products by 2028.
"We expect to accelerate our growth in SaaS products and recurring revenues as we take another evolutionary step to grow into a healthcare solutions provider," Peter Arduini, GE Healthcare’s president and chief executive officer, said in the statement.
While outpatient enterprise imaging is a high-growth and more than $2 billion opportunity for GE Healthcare worldwide, bringing Intelerad's assets and capabilities into the portfolio – for a disclosed $2.3 billion in cash – will also improve patient care, Arduini added.
"As hospital and ambulatory care providers face increased demand for imaging and rising patient volumes, they are looking to simplify and unify their workflows," he said. Care teams will "be more efficient, improve outcomes and deliver precision care for patients globally."
GE Healthcare estimates Intelerad revenues in the first full year of ownership will be approximately $270 million. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026 after regulatory approvals.
THE LARGER TREND
Three years ago, Intelerad acquired Life Image, one of the largest image-sharing networks, to create a global medical image network. By combining, Intelerad managed more than 80 billion images, used by blue-chip health systems such as the Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic and NewYork-Presbyterian, worldwide.
"Bringing together two of the industry’s leading image exchange providers further solidifies Intelerad’s commitment to helping clinicians and patients lead the revolution in imaging from a world of siloed PACS to a future of interoperable image exchange," then Intelerad CEO Mike Lipps said in a statement at the time.
Meanwhile, GE Healthcare has continued to advance its imaging technologies.
Through the company's AI Innovation Lab, it looks "at areas that we believe hold real potential to transform care for both patients and clinicians," Dr. Taha Kass-Hout, GE Healthcare’s global chief science and technology officer, said last month.
The company has formed several partnerships to advance disciplines such as precision oncology and general AI imaging capabilities – including refining its magnetic resonance imaging foundational model through provider testing with Mass General Brigham and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
ON THE RECORD
"Intelerad is an outstanding strategic fit and is a pioneer in cloud-based imaging software, with a strong portfolio of world-class solutions across care settings," said Roland Rott, president and CEO of imaging at GE Healthcare, in the statement. "We will be even better positioned to meet the evolving needs of healthcare providers, simplify complex workflows and drive digital innovation across the industry."
"GE HealthCare’s global scale and extensive relationships with key decision makers across hospital systems will fuel the expansion of our connected imaging software offering," added Bazinsky. "Together, we look forward to advancing digital innovation in healthcare and delivering more integrated AI-enabled solutions that empower our customers to tackle their greatest challenges."
Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
