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Agora Care
The Online Bank for Patient Diagnostic Images
Osman Ratib, Co-Founder and CEO & Joël Spaltenstein, Co-Founder and CTOPatient imaging data, until now, confined in diagnostic equipment storage systems in radiology centres, is now easily accessible to patients in their own online image banks. They no longer have to place a formal request with the lab to get their medical imaging data. Nor do they have to undergo multiple expensive medical exams and endure recurring radiation exposure due to the unavailability of imaging data from past diagnoses.
The architect behind this new paradigm is Agora Care, a med-IT startup company providing patients across Switzerland with a secure and centralised cloud repository, where all their medical imaging data is stored. After every diagnostic examination at an Agora Care partnered radiology centre, patients receive their medical content in their Agora cloud accounts as soon as the images are ready. Having complete control over the storage accounts, patients can access and share their critical imaging data anytime they want from their digital devices. They can show their records to the desired care providers without relying on the radiology centre.
“By giving patients free and easy access to all their radiology examinations through our centralised, patient-centric cloud platform, we are bringing greater accuracy into medical decisions and eliminating unjustified re-examination costs,” says Osman Ratib, co-founder and CEO of Agora Care.
Agora Care’s patient-centric cloud platform comes in the wake of new medical imaging techniques, which have significantly increased the data transfer frequency between radiology centres, referring physicians, and care provider institutions. With Agora Care’s platform placing patients at the centre of the data transfer loop, the healthcare industry in Switzerland is witnessing a significant rise in patient satisfaction. The company’s platform is also enabling radiology centres and healthcare institutions to align themselves with new compliance regulations that require them to give patients access to all their imaging data.
Bringing Cost-Effectiveness for Radiologists and Physicians
Radiology centres and referring physicians stand to benefit from the platform as much as patients, as it can relieve some of their longstanding pain points. The radiology centres, which are responsible for proper communication and transmission of diagnostic results, as well as the corresponding imaging data, have to deal with the growing overhead costs that come with the implementation of robust and secure image storage and transmission infrastructure. Producing and distributing paper prints or saving files on flash drives can eat up a chunk of their budget.
Even if the centres are shifting to web portals for electronic transfer, they have to establish a collaboration infrastructure to facilitate secure data transfer, along with maintaining a specialised administrative staff to manage the IT architecture.
For referring physicians, Agora Care helps reduce the time required to retrieve and assess the patient’s clinical data and diagnostics results. Especially in countries like Switzerland, where patients get their radiological examinations performed at different centres based on their location-specific preferences, physicians have to gather data from each of these locations to conduct a complete patient assessment. If data from some radiology centres are not accessible to them, the physicians cannot accurately evaluate the progression of the disease. To eliminate such inefficiencies, Agora Care standardises and harmonises medical image delivery from diverse radiology centres and patients to offer a single source of truth to the physicians.
These data infrastructure hurdles are solved by Agora in collaboration with a partner company, KISANO SA, by equipping radiology centres with ‘gateway’ software that is linked to its patient-centred repository. The software, connected to the radiology centre’s internal imaging network, can transmit images directly from the centre’s picture archiving and communication system (PACS) to the patient’s personal account on the Agora Care platform. The simple transfer of images directly to the patient also significantly reduces the cost and personnel required for communicating the imaging data to their clinical partners and referring physicians. The installation of KISANO’s gateway software—which makes the transfer possible—is implemented by the Agora implementation team for a one-time registration fee, and optional technical support and online assistance come at an annual maintenance contract fee.
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Every patient’s medical history is unique, but when used collectively, it can give a complete picture of a particular disease
For referring physicians, Agora Care helps reduce the time required to retrieve and assess the patient’s clinical data and diagnostics results. Especially in countries like Switzerland, where patients get their radiological examinations performed at different centres based on their location-specific preferences, physicians have to gather data from each of these locations to conduct a complete patient assessment. If data from some radiology centres are not accessible to them, the physicians cannot accurately evaluate the progression of the disease. To eliminate such inefficiencies, Agora Care standardises and harmonises medical image delivery from diverse radiology centres and patients to offer a single source of truth to the physicians.
The physicians examine the patient’s medical images using the platform’s user-friendly, web-based image viewer that is accessible from their tablets and smartphones. They do not have to install specific software or application. Such capabilities are especially useful for surgeons and specialists performing image-guided interventions.
Shifting the Hosting Costs from Patients
If patients store, access, and transfer their medical images for free on the Agora Care platform, where does the company’s revenue come from? It is generated from Agora’s contracts with researchers and pharma companies seeking highly curated healthcare data hosting services for R&D and innovation projects. The platform even acts as a recruitment hub for patients willing to take part in research programs and clinical trials for novel drugs and therapies, especially for rare diseases. This unique business model frees patients from the data-hosting expenditure, while benefiting the broader medical industry.
Patients can also connect with relevant telemedicine channels that have partnered with Agora Care. Whenever patients undergo medical tests, they can get second opinions on their medical data from experienced physicians through telemedicine platforms.
The images can be shared with the physicians directly through the platform without additional transfer fee. Only the radiology centres and image providers are charged a nominal fee per study, which further contributes to the platform’s revenue stream.
Agora Care’s massive volumes of highly curated medical imaging data is proving especially beneficial for the training of AI based image analysis algorithms. It also allows researchers to identify clusters and correlations between datasets, enabling the development of predictive models using data mining and machine learning techniques. Agora Care is opening up new possibilities in the medical imaging space, including advanced clinical support, personalised diagnostic and prognostic functionality, and the optimisation of individual patient outcomes in ways that were previously not possible.
Fostering Patient-Driven Healthcare Innovation
Patients using the Agora Care platform play an important role in driving healthcare innovation because of their medical imaging data ownership. Until now, the inability to recruit large cohorts of patients with rare diseases had been a limiting factor for clinical trials relying on medical imaging as the quantitative criteria. Agora Care’s patient-centred platform solves this problem by leveraging the broad pool of patients on its platform. It provides willing candidates with the opportunity to consent to participate in potentially life-saving clinical trials. The platform also saves CRO sponsors a considerable amount of money in the long run by helping identify patients most likely to benefit from the trial. It helps them determine the efficacies and properties of new drugs, medical devices, and therapeutic procedures. Throughout the patient recruitment process for clinical trials, patients remain the primary decision-makers. The company ensures that research teams cannot access the patient’s data directly and are only given access to anonymous duplicates in separate repositories. Every patient data transaction is recorded, and a detailed log is provided to the patients, enabling them to participate in the medical research on their own terms.
By giving patients free and easy access to all their radiology examinations through our centralised, patient-centric cloud platform, we are bringing greater accuracy into medical decisions and eliminating unjustified re-examination costs
The Future of Patient-Centred Healthcare
Every patient’s medical history is unique, but when used collectively, it can give a complete picture of a particular disease. The researchers leveraging Agora Care will be able to identify the trends and unlock the insights that are the primary ingredients for medical breakthroughs. These patient contributions can ultimately make a difference in their care journey, the community at large, and for future generations.
The company recently announced the closing of its second seed round of CHF 1.8 Mio to extend its clinical deployment in Switzerland. In alignment with its goal of helping patients take ownership of their medical data, Agora Care is focusing on integrating its imaging repositories with existing and future EMR solutions, which will link the clinical images with the patient’s overall medical records. Following its deployment in Switzerland, Agora Care is planning to extend its services to other European countries and in the U.S. Agora Care’s medical imaging data ownership revolution in Switzerland will undoubtedly inspire more innovators around the world to develop new patient-centric solutions for sustainable healthcare.
Agora Care News
Agora Care patient onboarding speeds up
Agora Care aims to establish itself as the world's largest curated medical imaging database, directly linked to corresponding patient profiles. In 2023, the startup, led by Prof. Osman Ratib, made substantial progress in implementing its strategic plan, garnering increased validation and support from healthcare institutions and professionals worldwide.
The evolving landscape of medicine emphasizes patient-centric approaches, personalized care, and increased patient empowerment. The acceleration of clinical research and more efficient managed care necessitates easy access to substantial amounts of data, specifically Real World Data (RWD). Reports suggest that RWD can significantly reduce clinical trial costs.
Curated medical images play a crucial role in this paradigm shift, especially considering the rising demand, with 1 in 2 clinical trials now requiring medical images, a 700% increase over the past decade. Agora Care addresses the challenges posed by siloed and inaccessible medical image repositories, providing a solution for patients, healthcare professionals, and research groups.
In recent months, Agora Care has focused on accelerating patient onboarding in Switzerland and presented a connector at the eHealth Switzerland Projectathon to link its medical image platform with the Electronic Patient Record (EPR). Initiatives are also underway for the platform's rollout in the US, with promising responses from major institutions and key players.
Agora Care maintains its commitment to understanding the critical components of its dual business model – data management (SaaS) and data curation (RWD licensing). As a disruptive force in the industry, the company acknowledges the need for creativity and collaboration with experts. A successful partnership with Kisano, a pan-European company specializing in software packages for medical image transfer, has provided significant value. Agora Care intends to acquire 100% of Kisano's capital after the upcoming financing round.
Having secured nearly CHF 2 million in funding in 2023 through a convertible loan, Agora Care is now in the final stages of its Seed round, with commitments expected to close by the end of February and funding by the end of Q1 2024. Prof. Osman Ratib anticipates that these funds will facilitate further expansion in Switzerland, the development of valuable partnerships, accelerated distribution, and the initiation of a presence in the US within the next 12 months.