Mark Ibrahim is a cardiologist with specialized training in multimodality cardiovascular imaging and an interest in medical informatics. He is board certified in clinical cardiology, cardiovascular CT, cardiac MRI, echocardiography, and cardiac nuclear imaging.
Now, he can add “entrepreneur” to his many credentials as the founder of CardiaSpace, a tech-enabled telehealth company specializing in advanced cardiac imaging. He is getting help to grow the business by participating in the unique Master of Business Creation (MBC) program at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business.
“The value of the MBC program is tremendous, and its positive impact on the startup’s likelihood of success is huge,” Ibrahim said. “The in-person program provides full scholarship. If enrolled in the online program, there will be a minimal tuition fee which is totally worth it given the value the founder will get out of the program. The program will fulfill the essential needs that every startup founder will encounter.”
Ibrahim pursued his advanced cardiac imaging fellowship training at the University of Utah’s School of Medicine, where he was also involved as the co-director of the advanced cardiac imaging program. He led the clinical operations, imaging protocol development, and the quality assurance program of the cardiac MRI and cardiac CT services.
Throughout Ibrahim’s academic career and clinical practice, he continued to look for ways to improve a patient’s outcome and access to specialized care. He quickly realized that leveraging technology in healthcare would result in a better outcome and maintain the well-being of clinical providers.
His passion for leveraging technology in healthcare led him to start CardiaSpace. The company focuses on enabling hospitals and radiology imaging centers to perform contemporary advanced cardiac diagnostics. They do so by setting up refined cardiac imaging protocols on the facility’s eligible scanners, securely transferring images to their HIPAA-compliant server, and providing a timely interpretation of the studies utilizing a proprietary automated workflow that assists the reading physicians in the image analysis and reporting process.
CardiaSpace competes with well-established teleradiology companies in the radiology imaging market, however, not many of these companies provide advanced cardiac imaging or subspecialty service in cardiac imaging, as it is a new specialty that emerged in recent years. Moreover, the physicians involved in the reading service at CardiaSpace are all fellowship-trained, “advanced” cardiac readers (Level-III) compared to other competitors who rely heavily on “basic” readers (Level-II). The technical expertise at the scanner level, combined with their proprietary workflow, gives CardiaSpace the advantage of producing high-quality diagnostic images, offering ultra-fast turnaround time with precise reports directly integrated into the facilities’ electronic medical records.
CardiaSpace’s services add tremendous value to healthcare facilities. Such facilities will have the opportunity to offer contemporary, sophisticated cardiac diagnostics, increase the utilization of their existing scanners, keep their patients within the same healthcare system, and, most importantly, allows early diagnosis of patients with chest pain and transfer outside the crowded Emergency Departments in the U.S. All are accomplished without bearing the burden of hiring full-time specialized physicians or the overhead cost of licensing and maintaining the required radiology postprocessing platforms.
During the beginning stages of CardiaSpace, Ibrahim felt he needed more formal guidance as he progressed with his company. That is why he turned to the Master of Business Creation program at the University of Utah.
“The MBC program provides this unique opportunity where you can use your own company data and its business operations to develop a refined business strategy, marketing plan, and accurate financial projections under the supervision of expert faculty mentors,” he said. “Overall, the MBC program provides a structured framework and toolkit which enhances the founder’s chance in creating and scaling a successful business. Founders receive extensive mentorship with weekly one-on-one feedback from an assigned preceptor who is an expert in the founder’s domain.”
“The impact of the MBC program on CardiaSpace has been exponential growth,” Ibrahim explained. The program helped refine the company’s overall business strategy, target market, and pricing model. Throughout the program, the company witnessed a 50% increase in the number of new contracts and ongoing growth in the business operation and footprints across the US.
After completing, testing, and learning from the 9-month MBC program, Ibrahim hopes to have a refined plan to position CardiaSpace as the predominant tech-enabled telehealth for advanced cardiac imaging across the nation. “We are currently operating in four states. Our customers’ feedback is outstanding and the demand for our service is high,” Ibrahim said. CardiaSpace’s team wants every patient to have access to the best cardiac diagnostics regardless of geography or the limited local expertise in certain areas.
Learn more about CardiaSpace at cardiaspace.com.
