Radiology, a primary diagnostic tool, has a supply problem. The Royal College of Radiology predicts a shortfall of 3,600 radiology consultants by 2025 (44% of total requirement to meet demand).
Hexarad is a radiology company focused on reducing delays in diagnosis caused by the global shortage of radiologists. It runs a platform connecting hospitals and other healthcare providers with a global pool of consultant radiologists. It also builds workflow management software, Optirad, to improve the efficiency of large hospital radiology departments and preserve clinical resources for where they are needed most: treating patients. This workflow management software is born out of the founding team’s more than 40 years of experience in the NHS and is currently in pilot in two hospitals.
Tim Baker is Chief Technology Officer. He is responsible for development of new technology, including Optirad, and ensuring the platform’s needs are met as it grows. Hexarad has all the classical scaling challenges ranging from how to maintain its culture as it grows, to hiring the right people, and knowing what and what not to build.
Tim hopes that the Shott Scale up Accelerator will support him to “learn from others in a similar position and those who have been here before, as well as sharing what’s worked well or not so well for us along the way”. He recognises that “it’s hard to find people in similar positions”.
Over 18 months, Hexarad has grown from 8 staff and 30 radiologists to 30 staff and about 100 radiologists. It has also gone from reporting 2,000 to 3,000 studies per month to reporting more than 16,000.
Over the next 18 months, Hexarad aspires to become the fifth big company in the UK doing this kind of radiology workflow management. As part of this, it aims to reach 50,000 scans reported per month.
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