Liam Ghiam, Clinical Associate in the UCI Health, Integrative and Functional Medicine Fellow at the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, shared on LinkedIn:
“Cancer therapies have significantly improved, and patients live longer. We are now caring for and treating more older adults with complex care needs.
Multiple specialists, scans, labs, procedures, medications, and treatments across different health systems that do not communicate well with each other.
Add fatigue, cognitive changes, and memory difficulties = Very challenging to navigate cancer care.
A missed phone call can become a missed scan.
A missed scan can mean an unproductive oncology visit and delayed care.
Nurse navigators already do an incredible job closing these gaps. However, this level of support is resource-intensive and impossible to provide to every patient who needs it.
This is where I think AI can play an important and practical role.
Imagine an AI navigator that brings appointments, labs, imaging, medications, treatments, and follow-ups together. It reminds patients what needs to happen next, recognizes when something has been missed, and helps keep their care on track.
For the majority of older adults, another smartphone app is not the solution.
The more interesting future is Physical AI fed by an AI navigator: a simple conversational device at home that patients can talk to naturally. It could remind them about tomorrow’s scan, tell them where to go, help with scheduling, and alert family, caregivers, or the care team when something important is close or missed.
Helping patients live longer is great. We also need to make it easier for them to navigate the care that comes with advanced medicine.”
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