AI strategies to reduce workload for screening mammography

As artificial intelligence was being introduced to the mammography market, radiologists were worried it could replace them. Then as COVID-19 hit countries, mammography screening centers slowed and many shut down. As health facilities scrambled to find alternatives to staffing issues many physicians volunteered to assist in other areas. The backlog of women having to re-book their screening exams just kept mounting. What could help? At a time of need, AI is working alongside you to help accelerate your workload, find more cancers and can certainly alleviate some of the stress. 

  1. Physician burnout

Burnout is definitely an issue and especially in breast imaging. This is a global issue and COVID has added unprecedented pressures to the healthcare systems. Unfortunately burnout will get worse due to the variants of the virus. Physicians are tired and overworked. This is where artificial intelligence can help. AI focuses on the repetitive part of the task and is designed to work alongside physicians as a second pair of eyes.

 

It is important to realize that when a physician works with AI, they can outperform either one working by itself.  AI can identify missed findings and improve the experience for healthcare providers and patients.* The high volume workload has been shown to increase the chances of a missed cancer. 

Delivering a high standard of care with fewer resources will overwhelm our healthcare systems. We know AI itself cannot solve this problem but it can provide significant relief and allow radiologists to remain focused on their patients, the part that only humans can do.

  1. Physical limitations

The prevalence of eye strain** for radiologists was studied and concluded that women radiologists were more susceptible to eye strain. Radiologists in general suffered symptoms if they worked long days, took fewer breaks and had any screen flicker. With the shortage of radiologists and the increased workloads this will become more of an issue. MammoScreen® AI can assist in reducing the amount of time they view the screens.

  1. The use of MammoScreen Score

MammoScreen Score enables you to decisively confirm what you suspect, detect what you potentially missed and concentrate on questionable studies that need more attention.

Using MammoScreen® AI as a concurrent reader during the clinical evaluation increased reader confidence by as much as 53% for cases categorized as either a low or high level of suspicion. The study results confirmed that when radiologists evaluated cases that had a high level of suspicion, MammoScreen’s assessments helped them increase their level of suspicion 41% of the time. Conversely, when evaluating cases with a low level of suspicion, the radiologists’ level of suspicion was lowered 53% of the time.

Optimize your workflow efficiency by implementing AI in your mammography practice. We want to walk you through the process. Book a free, 10-minute demo today to learn how you can bring another set of eyes to your practice.

 

*www.aiin.healthcare/topics/medical-imaging/ai-peer-review-key-findings-radiologists-imaging

**www.ajronline.org/doi/full/10.2214/ajr.184.2.01840681