To reinvent cancer care, Color Health puts AI-driven virtualization first

Angus Cheng covers all issues broadly related to cancer, including medicines, policy, science and stocks. She joined STAT in 2021 after covering health and science at NPR and NPR affiliate stations. His work has been recognized with the national Edward R. Murrow Award and the June L. Biedler Award for Cancer Journalism, among others. You can access Angus.08 on Signal.

The way Color Health CEO Osman Laraki sees it, cancer is a growing problem. New science regularly sets new treatment standards and increases the complexity of managing an already complex disease. Laraki said cancer patients are growing faster than oncologists, and costs are exploding. All of this makes it difficult for everyone to receive the best possible treatment. The solutions that Silicon Valley executives come up with are inevitable.

“In our view, the only way to address and solve this problem is in a virtual-first, AI-driven way,” Laraki said. “Over the next few years, the largest cancer centers will be virtual first.”

Virtual cancer care may sound like an oxymoron. After all, the mainstay of cancer treatment is almost entirely manual, including surgery, radiation, and intravenous drips. However, Color Health is building a virtual cancer clinic that includes a virtual “tumor board” of multidisciplinary experts, which the company claims will provide and manage high-quality care. The company just received certification from the American Society of Clinical Oncology to back this up.

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