Getting Personal: New Partnership Aims To Improve Cancer And Cardiovascular Care Around The World

In 2003, Dan Collins was working as a media analyst for an Australian brokerage when his father was diagnosed with a rare terminal illness. Collins had no background in healthcare, but seeing his father’s odyssey through the medical system, he realized that there had to be a way to treat people.

Collins left his job and teamed up with a small group of cardiologists in Brisbane. Starting with a goal to make care better and more personal, they opened a single clinic in 2005. The group soon expanded into cancer care, and their clinic has grown a global network of more than 440 cancer and cardiovascular disease treatment centers in Australia, the U.S., the U.K. and Spain. Called GenesisCare, the business serves an estimated 400,000 patients and employs more than 5,000 doctors and specialists. “GenesisCare is a great example of an innovative Australian business growing globally,” says Matt Tucker, president and CEO of GE Healthcare Australia & New Zealand

Tucker would know. Over the last decade, GE Healthcare has helped GenesisCare grow, supplying it with a suite of cardiology solutions including medical imaging and other technology. This month, GE announced plans to supply GenesisCare centers around the world with its latest imaging systems, including computed tomography, magnetic resonance, ultrasound, digital mammography, and other technologies and services.

The deal, valued at more than $130 million, will allow GenesisCare to provide patients with greater access to the latest technology. The companies also plan to work together on improving cancer diagnosis and treatment as well as cardiovascular care — with cancer and heart disease being the two leading causes of death around the world.

In the U.S. alone, GenesisCare operates 290 locations. It recently acquired the major U.S. integrated cancer care provider 21st Century Oncology and has plans to invest $300 million in the country. “Cancer and heart disease haven’t stopped during this pandemic, and high-quality imaging and diagnosis will be in greater demand than ever as many people begin to feel more comfortable accessing screening services,” Collins said. “Our new global partnership with GE Healthcare will allow for better patient access to state-of-the-art technology and exciting research collaborations that will raise the bar in delivering care for patients of the future.”

Kieran Murphy, president and CEO of GE Healthcare, said that together with GenesisCare, the GE unit wants to offer patients greater access to leading medical technologies, more precise intervention and individualized treatment leading to a new standard of personalized healthcare: “We hope that combining GenesisCare’s clinical excellence with GE Healthcare’s medical diagnostic innovation and AI capabilities will positively impact millions of cancer and cardiac patients.”

Top image credit: GenesisCare