Lifepoint Health, Eon Release Data Showing Why Identification and Follow-Up of Incidental Findings are Integral to Improving Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Outcomes

Patients identified through incidental findings are 6.2x more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer compared to screening.

More than half of incidental cancer diagnoses were among patients traditionally not eligible for routine screenings.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. and DENVER, March 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Lifepoint Health and Eon today released data from a large-scale breast cancer early detection program that challenges conventional assumptions about how breast cancer is detected and which patients require the most urgent follow-up. The data demonstrate that some of the highest-risk patients would be missed entirely if detection programs rely solely on routine screening.

An analysis of program data found that patients with breast abnormalities identified incidentally — through imaging performed for an unrelated reason, such as a chest CT or abdominal scan — were 6.2 times more likely to result in a cancer diagnosis than patients undergoing routine screening mammography.

Among patients ultimately diagnosed with cancer, 63% of those identified through incidental findings were already classified as high-risk at the time of their initial exam, compared with 47% of screening patients. 

The analysis also shows that more than half of breast cancers found through incidental findings occurred in patients not traditionally eligible for routine screening — including those that were either too young, too old or male. This underscores the importance of structured follow-up beyond traditional screening pathways.

"For decades, breast cancer detection programs have focused almost exclusively on screening mammography, which continues to be absolutely essential, but it's not enough," said Dr. Aki Al-Zubaidi, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Eon. "What this analysis shows is that some of the highest-risk patients are being identified through imaging performed for other clinical purposes."

The analysis was conducted using Eon Breast, a platform designed to identify, track, and manage patients requiring follow-up across both routine mammography screening and incidental breast and axilla findings detected on non-breast imaging. By unifying incidental findings with screening workflows and embedding Eon Breast Care Navigators, the platform enables health systems to deliver timely care coordination and follow-up for patients identified through any imaging pathway.

Lifepoint launched the initiative following a system-wide retrospective analysis of 5.6 million reports, which revealed 1,685 patients with incidental breast abnormalities who required follow-up. More than 40% of patients with abnormalities did not meet American Cancer Society clinical guidelines, which, at the time of the analysis, recommended routine screening for women between 45 and 75 years old. These findings led Lifepoint to launch an initiative to track and manage incidentally identified breast lesions, complementing the organization's existing screening program. In addition, Lifepoint partnered with Eon to build an integrated workflow that manages both pathways in a single platform.

The Importance of Incidental Findings

Data from 53 community-based, acute hospitals that implemented Eon Breast between March 2023 and December 2025 reveal a clinical profile for incidental breast findings that is fundamentally different from screening populations:

• Cancer diagnosis rates: Patients identified through incidental findings are 6.2x more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer compared to screening.
• Baseline risk at identification: Among patients diagnosed with cancer, those with incidental findings presented as high-risk at a 34% higher rate at their initial exam than screening patients.
• Detection beyond screening eligibility: More than half (51%) of incidental cancer diagnoses were among patients not traditionally eligible for routine screenings based on clinical guidelines, and, therefore, would have been missed for identification and follow-up in a screening-only model.

Improving Patient Care and Operational Efficiency

Eon Breast enabled Lifepoint to diagnose patients at risk of breast cancer early as well as gain operational efficiency, while maintaining consistent performance that is in compliance with the Mammography Quality Standards Act, across all participating locations.

"We started with 53 different breast programs, each with its own workflows and practices," said Bart Daugherty, Vice President of Clinical Technology and Systems at Lifepoint Health. "We can now consistently manage both screening and incidental findings in one system across our facilities. Eon Breast has helped us manage more patients and saved our mammography teams roughly four hours per site per week — 208 hours of capacity a year — which they can now use to focus further on patient care."

Lifepoint's Healthy Person Program

Lifepoint's Healthy Person Program is an enterprise initiative across multiple disease areas including lung, pancreas, kidney, liver, thyroid and aortic aneurysms powered by Eon's AI platform. To date, Lifepoint's incidental findings management program — one of the most comprehensive in the nation — has identified more than 100,000 high-risk abnormalities and delivered a 36% improvement in early-stage cancer diagnoses.

"We built the Healthy Person Program because we believed that systematically identifying and following patients at risk of cancer could meaningfully change outcomes," said Dr. Chris Frost, Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Quality Officer of Lifepoint Health. "Because Eon's solution includes integrated care management, we were able to seamlessly integrate incidental findings into our diagnostic program so that patients receive timely follow-up and care without adding to the workload of our existing staff or having to hire more people."

Eon Breast is now commercially available to all health systems. To learn more, visit www.eonhealth.com/breast.

About Lifepoint Health
Lifepoint Health is a leading healthcare provider that serves patients, clinicians, communities and partner organizations across the healthcare continuum. Driven by a mission of making communities healthier^®, the company has a growing diversified healthcare delivery network comprised of nearly 55,000 dedicated employees, 60 community hospital campuses, more than 70 rehabilitation and behavioral health hospitals and more than 300 additional sites of care, including managed acute rehabilitation units, outpatient centers and post-acute care facilities. For more information about the company, visit www.LifepointHealth.net.

About Eon
Eon is a healthcare technology company helping health systems find patients at risk of cancer earlier and ensure they receive timely follow-up and longitudinal surveillance. Eon's platform identifies incidental findings in radiology reports, tracks patients through completed care, and pairs technology with dedicated navigators who support care coordination and patient outreach. Having analyzed more than 500 million radiology reports, Eon serves more than 75 health systems across over 1,200 facilities. For more information, visit www.eonhealth.com.

Media Contacts:
Logan Simmons, Vice President, Communications
Lifepoint Health
[email protected]
615-920-7656

Riddhi St.Clair
Lead, Strategic Communications & Thought Leadership
Eon
[email protected]
253-232-2413

SOURCE Eon