Using GPT-4o reasoning to transform cancer care
Color Health is working with OpenAI to pioneer a new way of accelerating cancer patients’ access to treatment. Their new Cancer Copilot application uses GPT-4o to identify missing diagnostics and crea
To measure the impact of this tool, Color is partnering with the University of California, San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCSF HDFCCC). For the initial implementation, Color and UCSF will conduct a retrospective evaluation, followed by a targeted rollout. Based on the evaluation, there is potential to integrate the copilot into clinical workflows for all new cancer cases at UCSF.
“UCSF is a leader in implementing cutting-edge technology to improve patient care,” says Dr. Alan Ashworth, PhD, FRS, President of the UCSF HDFCCC. “Patients frequently come to primary oncologists with incomplete diagnostic workups, and the time it takes to collate and accurately identify the completion of those workups prevents providers from working at the top of their license. We are interested in tools that can improve the efficiency and accuracy of pre-visit charting and avoid costly delays in treatment initiation for cancer patients at UCSF.”
Dr. Karen Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society, agrees. “The idea of combining AI technologies with digitally-enabled clinical workflows to expedite that process would be a positive advancement for all parties involved - the patient and their clinicians, as well as the payer covering the cost of treatment.”
Color is taking a measured approach in rolling out the copilot, and has started an initial phase-in for its own clinicians, applying the tool to a limited number of cases. These cases receive several layers of quality assurance:
- Healthcare providers using the copilot are able to identify 4x more missing labs, imaging, or biopsy and pathology results than those without the copilot.
- Using the copilot, it takes on average 5 minutes for clinicians to analyze patient records and identify gaps. Without the copilot, data is fragmented and can lead to weeks of delay.
Through the second half of 2024, Color intends to use the copilot application to provide AI-generated personalized care plans, with physician oversight, for over 200,000 patients.