Artificial intelligence (AI) is often associated with automating routine tasks, but its potential extends beyond mundane applications. In healthcare, AI’s ability to process vast amounts of data instantaneously is paving the way for groundbreaking medical advancements, particularly in tackling complex diseases like cancer.
Color Health, teaming up with OpenAI, uses AI to revolutionize cancer detection and treatment. Unlike the usual AI applications in healthcare that focus on admin tasks, Color Health’s approach zeroes in on areas needing deep medical expertise, like oncology.
In an interview with PYMNTS’ CEO Karen Webster, Othman Laraki, co-founder and CEO of Color Health, highlighted their unique focus. “We partnered with OpenAI to concentrate on areas requiring a lot of medical expertise and depth, where that expertise is scarce and expensive, like cancer,” Laraki explained. The goal is to leverage AI to transform cancer care, especially in risk-adjusted screening and pre-treatment workups.
Enhancing Clinician Expertise With AI
Cancer still ranks as the second leading cause of death in the U.S., driving huge healthcare costs. Color Health’s partnership with OpenAI tackles this issue by harnessing AI to boost clinical expertise and efficiency. One of the primary applications is improving risk-adjusted screening. Many high-risk individuals, identified by factors such as genetics or lifestyle, often miss appropriate screenings. AI can bridge this gap by applying risk-adjusted guidelines consistently and accurately.
“The majority of people who should be getting risk-adjusted screening guidelines don’t today,” Laraki noted. Early diagnosis is critical in cancer treatment, significantly improving survival rates and reducing costs. By using AI to identify and monitor high-risk individuals, healthcare providers can detect cancers at earlier, more treatable stages.
Streamlining Pre-Treatment Workups
The gap between cancer diagnosis and treatment often comes with delays, causing needless anxiety and possibly worsening outcomes. AI can smooth out this process by speeding up the pre-treatment workup and ensuring all tests and preparations are done before the patient meets their oncologist.
“One of the things that blocks being able to initiate treatment, especially as treatments are getting more and more complex, is the workup that happens so that your oncologist can initiate treatment,” Laraki explained. By optimizing this stage, AI improves patient survival rates and enhances healthcare resources’ efficiency.
AI and Healthcare: A Revolutionary Partnership
The melding of AI into cancer care marks a giant leap, aiming to boost, not replace, clinical know-how. AI can crunch vast amounts of patient data, sift out the relevant bits, and apply intricate guidelines with pinpoint accuracy, helping clinicians make swift, informed decisions. AI models act as co-pilots, offering thorough analyses and suggestions while the final call remains with human clinicians.
“It is about leveraging AI tooling to amplify the existing expertise today that is very scarce,” Laraki emphasized. “It is always the clinician who is the driver here.”
A Cultural Shift in Cancer Perception
The use of AI in oncology isn’t just a tech leap; it’s a cultural shift. Historically, cancer has been viewed as an inevitable, costly burden. However, proactive measures driven by AI and other technologies change this perception. AI’s role extends beyond science problems to addressing immediacy, logistics, and integration issues.
Take the gap in follow-up care for colorectal cancer screenings—where many positive cases don’t get timely follow-ups. AI-driven systems can track and remind patients and healthcare providers about needed actions. AI also helps better coordination among healthcare providers, cutting delays and boosting the overall patient experience.
By weaving together various stages of cancer care—education, screening, diagnosis, treatment—AI can create a more seamless and efficient healthcare system. The partnership between Color Health and OpenAI marks a promising leap toward revolutionizing cancer care and significantly improving patient outcomes.
