Latest news with #clinicalguidelines
Medscape
23-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
New ASCO AI Tool Promises Fast, Accurate Guidelines Access
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and Google Cloud have recently launched an artificial intelligence (AI)–powered search tool to provide accurate and fast access to ASCO's full library of evidence-based clinical guidelines, the society announced this week. Developed with Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform and Gemini models, the ASCO Guideline Assistant will offer clinicians 'a more dynamic user experience, allowing them to ask follow-up questions for intuitive, easy integration of expert information into their patient care plans,' based on ASCO's published clinical practice guidelines, according to a society press release. 'This partnership unlocks the value of ASCO's trusted guidelines knowledge,' ASCO's chief executive officer, Clifford Hudis, MD, said in a statement. 'Google Cloud's AI expertise is the engine that will drive faster access to critical information, empowering oncology professionals to make rapid, evidence-based decisions for their patients.' At ASCO's annual meeting next week, attendees will have a chance to explore the tool and learn more about 'Oncology and AI.' Notably, the ASCO Guideline Assistant is designed to circumvent 'accuracy concerns often associated with publicly available AI tools,' according to ASCO. While AI tools can help doctors make more informed decisions, save time, and optimize care, experts have also highlighted challenges and concerns with their use. 'Data-related concerns and human biases that seep into algorithms during development and post-deployment phases affect performance in real-world settings, limiting the utility and safety of AI technology in oncology clinics,' Medscape contributor Ravi B. Parikh, MD, and Likhitha Kolla wrote in a 2024 article in Cancer . By providing access to timely, relevant information, the new tool can help alleviate the challenges oncologists face from rising cancer rates in younger Americans, a growing number of cancer survivors, rapidly expanding treatment options, greater fiscal constraints and a projected shortage of oncologists, ASCO noted. 'This is huge!' Sneha Singh, MD, posted on X in response to the announcement. 'Thank you @ASCO and @googlecloud for this guidelines agent!' Another X user, Chiara Corti, MD, encouraged others to 'Try and play with it!' 'All the feedback will be welcomed by @ASCO and @googlecloud,' Corti added.
ABC News
12-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
New Australian guidelines for miscarriage and early pregnancy loss released
Australia's first comprehensive national guidelines for the treatment of early pregnancy loss have been welcomed by women's health experts. The clinical guidelines, developed by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RANZCOG), are designed to provide a benchmark for best practice medical care. "We don't actually have a standard of care for miscarriage in Australia because every health service does something slightly different and every clinician probably does something slightly different," Nisha Khot, obstetrician and president-elect of RANZCOG, said. Early pregnancy loss is common in Australia; it's estimated up to one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage, and more than 100,000 couples are affected by miscarriage every year. The clinical guidelines, published in late April, provide recommendations for the treatment of miscarriage, recurrent miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy up to 14 weeks gestation. Ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilised egg implants and grows outside the uterus. Dr Khot said in addition to providing health professionals with up-to-date evidence on the medical and surgical management of pregnancy loss, the guidelines were about ensuring empathy was "central to all the care we provide". Among the recommendations is a new definition of recurrent miscarriage, which was previously defined as a woman having three consecutive miscarriages. "[The new guidelines] have very specifically said that it is two miscarriages and they don't need to be consecutive for women to be able to access further testing to find out the cause," Dr Khot said. Isy Oderberg, co-founder of the Early Pregnancy Loss Coalition, said the guidelines would go a long way to supporting women and families who experience early pregnancy loss. "The time to just tell patients to go home and try again is over," Ms Oderberg said. "We need to offer patients proper care, proper oversight, let them know they're not alone, and not compound any grief they are already feeling with substandard care or a lack of empathy." Ms Oderberg, who had seven miscarriages on her way to having two living children, said miscarriage care varied significantly across the country and often came down to luck. "There are times when you go and seek care and you have an incredible, empathetic, knowledgeable clinician who can give you the right guidance and treat you well, both from a medical point of view but also in terms of empathy," she said. "But there are many, many horror stories. "It varies wildly and it gets worse when the person is from a marginalised or minority group, or if they're in a regional or rural area." Culturally, there has long been a discomfort around early pregnancy loss, she said, which has contributed to poor understanding of patients' needs and how to best support them. "We've seen a lot of doctors be dismissive … because it's just seen as a natural part of the reproductive cycle, which to some extent it is, but that doesn't lessen the grief." A global review of evidence in 2021 found the impact and consequences of miscarriage were "underestimated". It called for a comprehensive overhaul of the medical care and advice offered to women who have miscarriages. The new Australian guidelines recommend that communication with patients is "clear, empathetic and respectful" and that health professionals take care with terminology and use of certain phrases when discussing early pregnancy loss. "If the patient refers to their loss as a baby, [doctors] have to take that lead and refer to it in the same way," Ms Oderberg said. "It compounds a patient's grief if they don't take that lead, and use words like 'spontaneous abortion', which is still commonly used by a lot of doctors." In 2024, the federal government committed $9.5 million to miscarriage support and research, including funding a scoping study for a national miscarriage data collection. Ms Oderberg said it was important to understand where early pregnancy loss occurred, who was most affected, and whether rates were increasing. "The reason we need miscarriage data is because you can't create any sort of health policy without knowing who you're creating it for, where they are, how many people need the service … it's a fundamental plank of any decent policy." The Early Pregnancy Loss Coalition is now hoping to develop a national miscarriage road map, similar to the National Stillbirth Action and Implementation Plan, in order to look long-term at patient pathways, quality of care, and research funding. "A lot of what happens in this space of early pregnancy loss is not well understood because it is not well researched," Dr Khot said. "That is because there hasn't been funding for research in this area." In addition to further research, she said more psychological support was needed for women and families experiencing early pregnancy loss. "Whether that be counselling or mental health support, these are things women should have access to without additional costs." Listen to the full story on Radio National and subscribe to the Health Report podcast for more.
