[09/24/2020], Lexington, KY: Lung Cancer accounts for 25 percent of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. and causes more deaths than the next three cancers combined. Yet, lung cancer screening rates remain some of the lowest. Empowered by Thynk Health’s complete cancer screening and incidental finding management solution, MercyOne Des Moines is committed to improving lung cancer screening, detection, and patient care in Central Iowa.

As one of 100 great hospitals in the U.S. according to Becker’s Healthcare, MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center is among the nation’s high-performing hospitals, recognized for excellence in clinical care, patient outcomes, and staff and physician systems. 

“We are extremely honored to partner with MercyOne in their efforts to cure lung cancer and track pulmonary nodules. The  combination of their dedicated and talented team and Thynk Health’s market-leading artificial intelligence platform with deep machine learning to accurately automate lung cancer screening programs and pulmonary nodule clinics is truly a winning combination,” said Jeff Timbrook, CEO of Thynk Health.

Thynk Health securely integrates with MercyOne’s existing hospital systems to identify at-risk patients and extract critical clinical information from structured and unstructured data through deep learning and artificial intelligence. Analyzing medical history and demographics, Thynk Health provides a complete patient profile, flagging patients at a higher risk of lung cancer. This data is reported in a simple and actionable interface that allows the MercyOne team to quickly act on findings with automated communications and outreach to patients and providers.

Advanced patient identification and automation have translated into tremendous growth in the MercyOne Lung Cancer Screening, Incidental Pulmonary Nodule, and Lung Cancer Program with a 76.2 percent increase in the number of new patients undergoing screening from 2018 to 2019. The automated tracking of incidental findings, missed appointments, overdue annual screenings and follow-ups, and diagnostic procedures have prevented patients from falling through the cracks. This has resulted in an increase in follow-up screening CTs by 18.8 percent.

The increase in screenings at MercyOne Des Moines has led to an 86.7 percent increase in cancer detection, 50 percent of which were detected in early stages and thus a higher chance of successful treatment. Early detection of lung cancer through low-dose CT screening can decrease lung cancer mortality rates up to 25 percent among the high-risk population. Partnering with Thynk Health, MercyOne Des Moines plans to continue to make huge strides in fighting lung cancer in Central Iowa by raising  community awareness for lung cancer screenings and increasing the numbers of incidental pulmonary nodules that are identified and referred to the pulmonary program. 

“2019 was the most successful year the MercyOne Lung Cancer Screening, Pulmonary Nodule Program, and Lung Cancer Clinic has had. Everyone involved in the program believes that in 2020 we will be able to care for even more patients with lung cancers and pulmonary nodules with our unique, efficient, compassionate, state-of-the-art program that places patients and their families at the center of everything we do,” said Neil Horning, MD, FACP, FCCP – Medical Director MercyOne Des Moines Lung Cancer Screening Program

About

The Thynk Health platform optimizes data-driven workflows and provides operational and clinical analytics for cancer screening programs and other quality initiatives. The Lung Module automatically identifies at-risk patients, automates patient data and ACR submission, automates communications, automates tracking of incidental findings, provides actionable LCS reports and offers pulmonary nodule tracking. Learn more at thynkhealth.com