Color

Here’s a must-read article on an important, but vastly overlooked topic–#oncofertility and earlier onset of cancer in women–from Maven Clinic's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Neel Shah, in The Preprint. Dr. Shah raises crucial reproductive health considerations for cancer patients, especially as we are unfortunately seeing more younger females diagnosed. Dr. Shah spoke with our Chief Medical Officer, Rebecca Miksad, MD, MMS, MPH, who shared her insights based on decades of experience in the field, and as a practicing oncologist. When asked about why cancer rates are going up in young women, Dr. Miksad reflected on the struggle to come up with a single answer, but wants women to know at least one very important thing: "It is not women’s fault.” Dr. Miksad noted several potential reasons for the increased rate in cancer diagnoses among younger women, and discussed how as a society we need to start the conversation far earlier. Read on here: https://lnkd.in/gSSHzK7F

Karen Knudsen MBA PhD and the American Cancer Society have been incredible partners in increasing access to cancer screening and prevention resources to employees across the U.S. We thank you, Dr. K, for your partnership and dedication to advocating for patients and their families in their fight against cancer. Recognizing your immeasurable impact on ACS and the cancer community, we are honored that our partnership is considered one of your main achievements during your time at the organization. Together, we have been able to drive forward the ACS mission to end cancer as we know it, for everyone.

Easing administrative burdens on clinicians is absolutely necessary, however the scribe approach is a drastic underutilization of how AI can be applied to impact clinical care directly. That’s the focus of the AI we developed at Color. We believe we can indeed have a positive impact on clinical care (accurately and safely), while greatly reducing time spent on paperwork. Read more from our AI Lead, Munir Al - Dajani, here: https://lnkd.in/g6BdZfs6

Delighted to contribute to #Maven's latest Preprint edition about increasing cancer rates in younger women and what it means for their lives and family planning. Thank you Neel Shah for including me in this important discussion! While we know incidents of cancer are on the rise in women of reproductive age, we also know another very important fact - it’s not their fault. There are many contributing factors, and it’s important to talk about potential risks earlier so that preventative steps can be taken. "A new call to action Last month, a report from the American Cancer Society ate up headlines. The report found that cancer incidence was down in almost every demographic except one: women of reproductive age. Breast cancer rates have inched up by 1% every year since 2014. Likewise, uterine cancer is the only cancer for which survival has actually decreased over the past 40 years. For so long, cancer research has largely focused on prevention and detection in older, male-r groups. The field of oncology–and the cancer industry as a whole–has been slower to recognize the needs of young women. Dr. Rebecca Miksad is the brilliant and ebullient Chief Medical Officer of Color Health, a 50-state, physician-led virtual cancer clinic that (like Maven) partners with employers, unions, health plans, and other purchasers to improve population health. For Color, this means? delivering a full-spectrum strategy that focusses on earlier intervention at every step of the cancer journey–when expertise makes a difference–from prevention and early detection to center-of-excellence treatment, survivorship, and return to health. As an academic physician, Rebecca was prolific with many more ideas than could fit into a single NIH grant. When mentors encouraged her to shrink her ideas down, she instead sought out an environment she felt would allow her to move faster. While serving as the Head of the Research Unit at Flatiron Health, Dr. Miksad’s team cracked a fundamental challenge in oncology: the impact of cancer treatment in the real world...? When I asked Dr. Miksad about why cancer rates are going up in young women, she applied the same incisiveness: “Why is it happening? That is the million dollar question. But what I want your readers to know is, number one, it is not women's fault.” Then, she rattled off several explanations: women started smoking later than men, and have been dropping the habit later too. Exogenous estrogen in the environment and our food may be a contributor: “The onset of menstruation is getting younger, and menopause is occurring later. So the total estrogen exposure during your lifetime is much higher, which can drive estrogen-related cancers such as breast cancer,” she said. There’s also the run-of-the-mill lifestyle trends of poor nutrition and activity levels. More pressing to Dr. Miksad is how we as clinicians, and indeed we as a society, can start the conversation far earlier. The same could be said for family building.?"

Color's Virtual Cancer Clinic is powered by an in-house, 50-state medical group that provides expert, guidelines-based care directly to employees and members. Through earlier detection, increased screenings, and proactive care, Color is changing the course of cancer. Learn how: color.com/cancer

Employers are concerned about cancer, and rightfully so. It's still the leading driver of employer healthcare costs, and its toll on employees can be devastating. Join us on 3/11 as industry leaders delve into the findings from our second-annual Employer Insights Report, and discuss: 1??. Employers’ current investments in cancer benefits and priorities for comprehensive support 2??. HR and benefits leaders' perceived gaps in the cancer care journey 3??. Strategies to ease cancer’s physical, financial, and emotional burden on employees and the workplace Register with Employee Benefit News here: https://lnkd.in/eFhdmhR7

Today, we are excited to publish the first results from our study with University of California, San Francisco, detailing a new AI architecture designed to tackle unique challenges in healthcare around clinical workflows and recommendations. In this case, it’s applying AI to quickly and accurately develop cancer patient workups. This work began with our OpenAI collaboration, announced last year. Our AI-based Cancer Copilot combines the extraordinary power of foundational LLMs–OpenAI’s GPT o-series models–with the interpretability, explainability, and reliability of a proven Expert System. We call this hybrid model a Large Language Expert, or LLE. Given the nature of its construction, the LLE removes hallucinations, incorporates critical patient and site-of-care context, and aligns to evidence-based standards and medical guidelines that are constantly evolving.?? With our LLE, we are able to reduce the time it takes to do a clinical workup on a cancer patient from one hour to 11 minutes, achieving over 95% accuracy on the clinical recommendations. There’s much more in our white paper, and a breakdown of the LLE and its performance in our latest blog post: Whitepaper: https://lnkd.in/eXhHJtmi Blog: https://lnkd.in/e6pXSNAH

Employers are increasingly recognizing that their organization needs additional support for detecting and managing cancer. Our latest insights show that ~3 in 4 benefits leaders feel their organization could use more support beyond what their health plan or PCPs offer. However, only ~1 in 4 are taking meaningful steps to do so, and often focus on standalone solutions like genetic testing rather than implementing truly comprehensive, supplemental programs. Discover how your peers are tackling cancer care challenges and explore actionable strategies in our second-annual Employer Insights Report. Download here: https://lnkd.in/djgdg453

We are proud to support Hasbro's employees to provide direct, accessible, and expert-led care for earlier interventions at every step of the cancer journey - from screening to treatment to survivorship. Read our case study to learn how together, we're helping Hasbro... ?? Identify high-cost claims and proactively raise awareness about cancer risk ?? Drive employee engagement in critical cancer screenings and interventions ?? Fast-track employees to the right next steps for care and support ?? Deliver a seamless, supportive experience throughout the cancer journey https://lnkd.in/ev74wM8P

Traditional cancer navigation only points employees to care—Color’s Virtual Cancer Clinic delivers it. With an in-house, 50-state medical group, we provide direct, expert-led, guidelines-based care, from screening through survivorship. Visit color.com/cancer