Radiology start-up Hexarad has signed a seventh NHS contract for its radiology technology platform. The Hexarad platform includes remote reporting teleradiology services, as well as a range of clinical efficiency software, which enable radiology departments to deliver faster diagnoses for patients.

The demand for imaging has dramatically increased since the start of the pandemic, with a tenfold increase in imaging waiting lists over the last two years. Last year the UK performed approximately 70 scans per minute, but delays on reporting those scans mean that patients are waiting longer for their diagnoses and treatment. . Remote reporting is a key tool to alleviate diagnostic bottlenecks and allow clinicians to diagnose and treat patients more quickly.

In addition to its NHS contracts, Hexarad also signed a significant number of private teleradiology contracts in 2021. Fiona Nelson, Diagnostic Imaging Lead, Secondary Care, Practice Plus Group, comments, “Teleradiology is an absolutely vital aspect of image reporting, not only for everyday reporting, but also for additional backlog and out-of-hours support. We treat more than a million patients a year, which means processing huge volumes of MRIs and x-rays. Hexarad has not only been able to ably support with our existing reporting services, but we are now also working with them on new pathways.”

Hexarad was founded in 2016 by a group of NHS consultant radiologists to address the global shortage of radiologists. They have created the Hexarad Platform to offer ‘intelligent outsourcing’ a model which combines high-quality remote reporting with software that helps radiology departments become more efficient. Hexarad’s intelligent end-to-end radiology platform encompasses a range of tools to not only to boost reporting capacity, but also to increase efficiency across radiology departments, stopping unnecessary patient delays.