“”[Having a tool that will] To tell you, hey, it’s time to stop; Let’s have a conversation with the patient [would be helpful]. Make sure we are all on the same wavelength [a patient’s prognosis] And the way we have to go ahead is vital to improve their results. “”
Lalan Wilfong, MD, an oncologist / medical hematologist with Texas oncology and liaison with doctors for healthcare -based health care of McKesson, discussed how models of predicting artificial intelligence (IA) could improve end -of -life care for cancer patients, by presentation
Historically, patients with cancer do not undergo good end -of -life care, said Wilfong. He noted that when they asked him, many patients reveal that their end -of -life experience was not what they wanted, often causing aggressive therapies such as chemotherapy at the end of life, hospitalization or admission to the intensive care unit (USI). These patients often preferred to spend their last days at home with family, focused on symptoms and comfort care rather than aggressive therapies.
Wilfong stressed that continuous improvement in palliative care requires the AI as a predictive model. The purpose of such a model is to predict which patients are likely to deal with poor results, allowing clinicians to intervene much earlier. Although Wilfong has recognized that most clinicians instinctively know when a patient’s prognosis is poor, the realities of an occupied clinical practice can lead doctors to “lose sight of” this crucial intervention need.
The AI prediction tool serves as a mechanism to encourage the clinician, urging them to stop and “think a little about this patient differently,” said Wilfong. Having a system that indicates more objectively that a patient would no longer benefit from the treatment facilitates the necessary but difficult conversations with the patient, he explained, adding that this process is considered vital to improve the results by ensuring that clinicians and patients are aligned with reality and the way to follow. Wilfong stressed that the fundamental principle of improving results is to align treatment with the objectives and values of patients, which cannot be achieved without an in -depth understanding of these objectives.
