Rural patients travel farther to see specialists and are half as likely to complete screening. Learn how Lifepoint closed that gap — bringing rural follow-up rates in line with non-rural patients.
LIFEPOINT HEALTH + EON
cancers detected in 2025
cardiac findings identified and managed in 2025
high-risk patient follow-up rate
rural vs. non-rural patient return rate
How to turn incidental findings into sustainable growth for your health system
How to scale an early detection program across hospitals without straining local teams
How cardiovascular surveillance is saving lives in rural communities
How to get started: assess your process, define pathways, and measure impact
Director, Healthy Person Program, Lifepoint Health
Amie Mendez brings over 17 years of healthcare experience to her role as Director of the Healthy Person Program with Lifepoint Health. Since joining Lifepoint in 2021, she has led the standardization and scale of lung cancer screening and incidental lung nodule programs across more than 70 hospitals in 29 states. Under her leadership, the Healthy Lung program achieved over 630% growth in less than five years and, in Q4 2024, surpassed 10,000 screenings in a single quarter. Building on this success, Amie has expanded the program into a multi-cohort model across more than 70 community hospitals, advancing pulmonology, oncology, and cardiovascular early detection initiatives.
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VP, Clinical Technology and Systems, Lifepoint Health
Bart Daugherty is Vice President, Clinical Technology and Systems at LifePoint Health, a leader in community based care driven by a mission of Making Communities Healthier©. Daugherty is a recognized innovator in healthcare technology and has lead development of new and disruptive solutions throughout his career. Bart is passionate about ensuring no one is lost to follow up and has developed clinical programs leveraging technology and clinical data to provide timely and appropriate notification of findings and to communicate appropriate follow up based on clinical guidelines for care. These programs have resulted in the early detection of disease and ultimately lifesaving opportunities for patients across the country.
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Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgeon; Chief of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Frye Regional Medical Center
Brett T. Starr, MD, FACS, is a Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon based in Hickory, North Carolina. He serves as Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences and Chief of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at Frye Regional Medical Center, where he also serves as Clinical Executive Director of the Frye Regional Heart Center, a Duke Heart affiliate. In addition, he is Surgical Director of the FryeCare Structural Heart Program and the Frye Regional Thoracic Oncology Service Line. Dr. Starr is a member of the active medical staff at Duke University Medical Center and serves on the faculty of the Duke University School of Medicine.
Ready to get started?
SMH grew incidental lung findings routed to its nodule clinic 100x and now detects
lung cancer at more than twice the national early-stage rate. Talk to our team about
building the same kind of program.