According to Dr. Nini Wu, Chief Medical and Development Officer at Navista, Cardinal Health, artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming oncology practices, with current adoption rates at 40-50% and projections indicating 70-80% implementation within the next few years.
Speaking at the 2025 Community Oncology Conference organized by the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), Dr. Wu highlighted how AI is revolutionizing multiple aspects of cancer care delivery while emphasizing the need for strategic implementation.
AI's Multifaceted Impact on Oncology Care
AI technologies are enhancing patient care through several key pathways. "Value-based care is really about the value of the outcomes to the patient," Dr. Wu explained. AI supports this mission by personalizing patient education, improving practice-patient connections, and addressing financial barriers to treatment.
One significant benefit is AI's ability to reduce financial toxicity by quickly identifying support programs for patients struggling with treatment costs. The technology can also help locate social support resources such as transportation assistance, removing practical barriers to care.
For clinicians, AI serves as a powerful tool for managing the growing complexity of cancer care. "AI can take those masses of information about a patient—their diagnosis, the testing they've had, their family history, the specifics around their challenges from a social determinants of health viewpoint—and can help the practitioner and clinician make some decisions," Dr. Wu noted.
This capability is particularly valuable as precision medicine advances, generating unprecedented volumes of patient data that must be analyzed for optimal treatment selection.
Pragmatic Implementation Challenges
Despite its promise, Dr. Wu emphasized that AI implementation must be approached pragmatically, particularly in community oncology settings where resources may be limited.
"What I recommend to every practice, when I am speaking with them about technology and AI, is to really think about addressing it from the viewpoint of a strategic plan," she advised. This involves understanding a practice's specific services, identifying key priorities, and selecting technologies that are both beneficial and financially feasible.
Dr. Wu cautioned that AI adoption must consider patient readiness and infrastructure limitations. Drawing a parallel to telehealth expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic, she noted that technological solutions are only effective if patients can access and use them.
"We couldn't use telehealth for everybody because they didn't have the underlying infrastructure to be able to do that. They might have a phone, but they might not have a phone that is a smartphone. Maybe they lived in an area that did not have as much bandwidth," she explained.
Maintaining the Human Element
While championing AI's capabilities, Dr. Wu emphasized that technology should enhance rather than replace the human connections central to oncology care.
"AI can help us and free up our time so that we spend more of our time contacting or spending it with the patients so that they get their needs from a people's viewpoint, because really, that's what they're looking for," she said.
The technology should serve as a tool that allows healthcare providers to focus more on direct patient care by handling routine tasks and information processing more efficiently.
Strategic Planning for AI Integration
For community oncology practices considering AI implementation, Dr. Wu recommends a structured approach that begins with self-assessment.
"It is critical to start with the planning, and that planning starts with understanding yourself and how you want to take care of your patients," she advised.
Practices should evaluate their current workflows, identify pain points where technology could provide solutions, and prioritize implementations that align with their care philosophy and patient population needs.
As AI continues to evolve, community oncology practices that take this strategic approach will be best positioned to leverage its benefits while maintaining their focus on delivering personalized, high-quality cancer care.
