How AI Can Empower Community Oncologists With Kristin Ashcraft and Waqas Haque, MD, MPH

While the promise of precision medicine has transformed cancer care, community oncologists—who care for the majority of cancer patients in the United States—often lack the time and resources to navigate the expanding landscape of molecular diagnostics, targeted therapies, and clinical trials. OncoRx Insights is tackling this precision medicine access problem head-on through an AI-driven digital health platform designed specifically for community oncology practices. In this installment of the Exploring AI in Oncology series, Dr. Waqas Haque speaks with Kristin Ashcraft, CEO and Co-Founder of OncoRx Insights, about how AI-driven platforms can democratize precision medicine and empower community practitioners to deliver better outcomes for their patients.

The Community Oncology Challenge 

Community oncologists face a unique challenge in modern cancer care: they must stay current with rapidly evolving precision medicine options while managing substantial patient loads. With 80% of cancer patients in the United States receiving care from community-based oncologists, the ability to efficiently identify and implement precision medicine therapies has profound implications for patient outcomes. Yet a recent Journal of Clinical Oncology study revealed a sobering statistic—only 36% of eligible lung cancer patients receive precision medicine therapies. This gap between evidence and practice represents both a challenge and an opportunity for innovation.

The distinction between academic and community oncology practice is critical to understanding why specialized solutions matter. While academic centers often focus on specific cancer types with dedicated specialists, community oncologists are generalists managing diverse patient populations across multiple malignancies. "At a 9:00 AM appointment, a community oncologist may see a breast cancer patient, and at 10:00 AM, they'll see a colon cancer patient," Ms. Ashcraft explains. Beyond the cognitive load of managing diverse cases, staying current with precision medicine advances is nearly impossible. Research suggests community oncologists would need 40 hours per week simply to remain updated on all cancer innovations.

This knowledge gap directly impacts patient care. Molecular diagnostic reports, pathology findings, and treatment options vary significantly across laboratories and institutions, creating fragmented information that delays decision-making. OncoRx Insights’ platform addresses this by standardizing how molecular diagnostic data is presented, allowing physicians to quickly identify relevant precision medicine options for their specific patients.

AI as a Clinical Enabler

A critical insight from Ms. Ashcraft's perspective is how AI should function in oncology: as an enabler, not a replacement. "It's not something that replaces the physician, it just enables them," she emphasizes. This distinction matters as clinicians navigate the growing presence of large language models in healthcare. While general-purpose AI tools like ChatGPT can help patients understand diagnoses and generate questions for their physicians, they lack the specialized oncology knowledge necessary for treatment decisions.

OncoRx Insights takes a different approach by building a focused, oncology-specific language model. This specialized tool combines the oncologist's training and experience with AI-driven analysis of molecular data, patient history, and pathology reports—creating a personalized treatment recommendation framework. The result is enhanced decision-making that leverages both human expertise and computational power. 

“We provide an AI-driven digital health platform for more radically efficient delivery of precision medicine treatment to cancer patients,” Ms. Ashcraft explained. “Our goal is to extend the lives of cancer patients by enabling community oncologists to have the information they need as quickly as possible so they can determine the right precision medicine therapy for their patients.”  

Expanding Access in Underserved Communities 

Rural and underserved communities face particular challenges in accessing precision medicine and clinical trials. Ms. Ashcraft highlights an important advantage of their platform: it doesn't require robust broadband connectivity to function effectively. By integrating with existing clinical workflows through Epic single sign-on capabilities, the platform can be seamlessly adopted without disrupting established practices.

This approach has broader implications. Just as developing nations "leapfrogged" landline infrastructure by adopting mobile technology, rural oncology practices may bypass traditional barriers to access advanced AI tools. By connecting community oncologists to precision medicine resources, these platforms can increase clinical trial enrollment in historically underserved areas—a critical step toward more equitable cancer care.

“I really feel that connecting rural oncology practices to a platform like ours can increase access to clinical trials for these areas—areas that are typically underserved,” Ms. Ashcraft emphasized. “That’s really our goal: to reach people where they are and try to increase access to quality care.”

The Pharma Perspective

Beyond direct patient care, the OncoRx Insights platform provides pharmaceutical companies with real-world insights into how community oncologists make treatment decisions. Since COVID-19 disrupted traditional physician-pharma interactions, companies have lacked understanding of prescribing patterns and treatment selection rationale. By aggregating de-identified treatment decision data, OncoRx Insights enables pharma to deliver "the right treatment to the right patient at the right time"—improving market access strategies while ultimately benefiting patients through better-informed drug development and positioning. 

Looking Forward

As AI continues reshaping oncology, Ms. Ashcraft's vision remains grounded in a fundamental principle: meaningful progress against cancer requires sustained optimism and dedication to improving patient outcomes. “If we’re going to make a meaningful impact on combating cancer, we have to remain optimistic,” she reflected. “There are always hurdles that come up, and we just have to think creatively about improving the lifespan of cancer patients and being resolute in that goal.”

For community oncologists seeking to stay current, she recommends a multifaceted approach: regularly consuming healthcare news digests, attending conferences like the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, and engaging with multidisciplinary colleagues solving similar problems. 

The future of precision oncology depends on closing the access gap that currently leaves many eligible patients without targeted therapies. By providing community oncologists with AI-enabled tools that standardize complex data and integrate seamlessly into existing workflows, platforms like OncoRx Insights represent a practical pathway toward more equitable, efficient, and effective cancer care.

About the Speakers 

Kristin Ashcraft is the CEO and Co-Founder of OncoRx Insights. She has spent over half of her career in the healthcare industry at companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies, including Genome Medical, Counsyl, and DaVita. Ms. Ashcraft has led innovative teams in healthcare services, digital health, diagnostics, genetics, chronic disease management, women’s health, and prenatal care.

Waqas Haque, MD, MPH, is a second-year Hematology/Oncology Fellow at the University of Chicago. He recently completed his Internal Medicine Residency at New York University (NYU) in a Clinical Investigator Track. Dr. Haque has balanced his patient care work with a variety of research projects. During his fellowship training at the University of Chicago, he plans to further his work in innovative clinical trial design, value-based care delivery to cancer patients, and clinical investigation.