OSF HealthCare is known for its expert care in neurovascular conditions across its 18-hospital network in Peoria, Illinois. As the number of stroke patients increased and cases became more complex, the health system faced greater pressure to make faster and more accurate decisions, particularly when moving patients between hospitals.

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With limited ICU beds available at its comprehensive stroke centers, OSF needed to ensure that only patients who would benefit from advanced care were transferred. This challenge was made harder by inconsistent imaging processes and staffing shortages throughout the system, which made it difficult to maintain the speed and coordination needed for effective stroke treatment. Dr. Deepak Nair, vice president of the neuroscience service line at OSF HealthCare, stated, “We know that differences in care lead to worse outcomes and higher costs. This is especially important in stroke care, where every delay increases the risk of death. Beyond imaging, we realized the need for a more connected and efficient communication system—one that brings together all the people involved, across hospitals and different specialties, in real time. In fast-paced cases, the ability to quickly align the team is just as vital as the scan itself. We also faced ongoing issues with quality control and having enough staff, largely due to a lack of radiologists nationwide. These gaps made it even more important to use tools that can help with consistency, accuracy, and teamwork at a larger scale.”

To tackle these challenges, OSF HealthCare looked into technology from RapidAI, a company that develops AI-based medical imaging and care coordination tools. The platform was designed to speed up the process from when a patient arrives to when a treatment decision is made by providing quick and reliable imaging insights to guide important decisions about transfers and care. “At its core, the platform promised to speed up the time from when a patient arrives to when a treatment decision is made by delivering fast and consistent imaging insights to help guide critical transfer and treatment choices,” Nair said. The system was also intended to help clinicians with varying levels of experience make confident diagnoses, whether it’s identifying blocked blood vessels, assessing bleeding, or spotting small abnormalities that might otherwise go unnoticed. The main goal was to reduce differences in care and improve the accuracy of each clinical decision.

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OSF HealthCare implemented the RapidAI platform across its neuroscience network to help standardize care, improve triage, and support timely treatment decisions. Emergency doctors, neurologists, neurointerventionalists, and transfer coordinators all use the system to evaluate imaging and decide on the best course of action, whether it means quickly moving a patient to a higher level of care, managing them locally, or continuing to observe. The platform’s different modules gave OSF teams objective insights, helping to level the playing field between smaller hospitals and larger centers. “RapidAI played a key role in reducing variability in interpretation. By providing standardized scoring within seconds, it helped bring general radiologists and emergency department providers up to the level of specialized neuro-interpretation,” Nair explained. This was especially useful when neuro specialists were not immediately available. The system’s integration with existing platforms like Epic and imaging infrastructure made it easier to adopt. “Because RapidAI worked directly within our existing systems like our Epic EHR and imaging setup, adoption was smooth,” he said. “Teams didn’t need to learn a completely new workflow; they simply got faster, clearer data within the systems they already used. That ease of use was key in driving wide acceptance and showing value quickly.”

Since introducing the RapidAI technology, OSF HealthCare has seen a 17 percent increase in the monthly identification of patients with intracranial hemorrhage and a 34 percent increase in hemorrhage-related procedures from 2023 to 2024. The hemorrhage module helps clinicians quickly and accurately detect suspected bleeds and measure blood volume, allowing for faster and more confident treatment or transfer decisions. On the ischemic stroke side, even though there was a 9 percent drop in emergency department visits, OSF reported a 155 percent increase in stroke diagnoses and a 347 percent rise in mechanical thrombectomy procedures. Nair pointed out that these improvements were largely supported by the vendor’s AI-powered modules for non-contrast CT, CTA, and perfusion imaging. “These modules provide timely and detailed imaging insights and allow for better coordination across teams, so decisions are not only faster but also more informed,” he said. “Time to treatment is still very important, but equally important is making the right decision for each patient. AI helps our clinicians see more in every scan, which leads to more targeted and effective care.”

The increase in thrombectomies led to 111 more patients getting timely care, resulting in an estimated additional $2.6 million in annual revenue. Nair summarized, “When you look at the overall value of a clinical AI platform, the benefits become clear. It’s not just about improving care quality, but also about strengthening the sustainability of the service line.” The artificial intelligence system has not only helped OSF HealthCare deliver better patient outcomes but also improved efficiency and financial performance, allowing the system to expand its impact across its hospitals.
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