USA — Varian, a Siemens Healthineers company, has entered into a transformative 10-year agreement with Ballad Health to enhance oncology treatment services for patients in rural communities throughout the Appalachian Highlands.
This partnership will benefit those in Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, northwestern North Carolina, and southeastern Kentucky.
The new collaboration builds upon Varian and Ballad Health’s long-standing relationship, aiming to improve clinical outcomes and deliver world-class care across the health system, regardless of location.
Central to the agreement is a technology roadmap that enables Ballad Health to stay ahead of advancements in oncology treatment.
Varian’s support will allow Ballad Health to choose different system configurations, installation dates, and sites, ensuring adaptability as market demands shift.
Additionally, Varian will provide critical market analytics and gap analyses to guide Ballad Health’s future technology decisions, ensuring they are well-informed and strategic.
This oncology partnership, focused on delivering advanced treatment technology, is set to revolutionize Ballad Health’s cancer care services.
The collaboration will accelerate the patient journey from screening to survivorship by creating a highly integrated digital network.
Varian’s expansive portfolio of products and services will contribute to a unified oncology ecosystem for Ballad Health, making it one of the largest agreements in Varian’s history.
Ballad Health’s care teams will also benefit from Varian’s Aria Core oncology management solution and the Varian Executive Partnership program.
These tools will provide greater visibility into patient data, enabling clinicians to deliver more personalized care through deeper insights.
Ballad Health will receive operational support and consulting services from Varian’s Advanced Oncology Solutions (AOS) Professional Services to further optimise the technology’s adoption.
These services, which include medical physics and dosimetry support, will ensure that the technology is used effectively and efficiently for the duration of the agreement.
Arthur Kaindl, Head of Varian, expressed his excitement about the collaboration, noting that Varian’s role within Siemens Healthineers is to expand access to world-class care for patients everywhere.
He emphasized that this agreement is a significant step toward helping Ballad Health implement cutting-edge radiotherapy solutions.
For his part, Alan Levine, Chairman and CEO of Ballad Health, highlighted that the agreement marks a natural progression in Ballad Health’s leadership in rural healthcare delivery.
Levine emphasized that this investment, along with other capital projects in the pipeline, will solidify Ballad Health’s position as a top healthcare provider for patients, team members, and clinicians.
For more than 25 years, Varian has worked with Ballad Health, a not-for-profit health system based in Johnson City, Tennessee, consisting of 20 hospitals, post-acute care, behavioral health services, and a large multi-specialty physician practice.
As part of the new decade-long collaboration, Varian will deliver eight TrueBeam linear accelerators and one Ethos adaptive radiotherapy system to six sites in Tennessee and Virginia. This will accelerate Ballad Health’s timeline for adopting newer linac technology.
The implementation of Aria Core, a cloud-based system, will replace several localized systems, offering a holistic view of patient data.
The Varian Executive Partnership program will further streamline workflows and provide actionable insights through data.
Upgrades to the Eclipse treatment planning platform will enable next-generation planning capabilities, delivering tighter control and higher-quality treatment plans than those currently in use.
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