Closing the Gap: How AON Turns AI and the Patient Voice Into Practice

Community oncology practices can narrow the gap between innovation and implementation by building patient feedback into real-time clinical pathways and using artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up rather than replace physician decision-making, as well as give caregivers the training and emotional support to succeed while patients are on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell and bispecific antibody therapies, according to 3 leaders from the American Oncology Network (AON).

In the first of 2 AON podcasts recorded at the 2026 Patient-Centered Oncology Care® (PCOC) conference, hosted by The American Journal of Managed Care^® in Nashville, Tennessee, Melody Chang, RPh, MBA, BCOP, vice president of pharmacy operations, was joined by Fred Divers, MD, chief medical officer; Puneeth Indurlal, MD, executive vice president of strategic operations and enterprise solutions; and Brooke Peters, PharmD, a clinical pharmacist. Together they recapped their PCOC panels and tied the discussions to AON's work.

Divers described a clinical pathways panel focused on moving pathways “from a static sort of retrospective pathway to a real-time dynamic pathway that's implemented throughout the network,” with payer and provider perspectives layered in alongside the patient perspective. He also discussed the 2026 Oncology Care Index, a survey of 109 oncologists and 100 clinical operators in community oncology. More than 80% of respondents considered AI critical to success, but implementation lagged. He said AON is working to close that gap by building out its clinical trials program so physicians gain early comfort with novel agents and through an outpatient bispecific T-cell engager step-up dosing program created by its pharmacy team.

Indurlal said that on AI, the “haze” of hype obscures practical uses. AI tools, he said, “put that medical decision-making on speed dial” by pulling information out of hundreds of pages of notes. Current applications include matching patients to clinical trials, ambient documentation, and identifying patients who could return to care and move onto a new therapy. He also noted that about 30% of AON's patients live in rural areas, roughly 3 times what competing practices see, and said technology helps the network deliver specialized care across more than 300 zip codes. Co-developing tools with end users, he added, speeds adoption.

Peters said the shift of CAR T-cell therapy and bispecifics into the outpatient setting means "we really need competent caregivers who are available 24/7." AON requires caregivers to attend the patient's initial drug education, provide chairside nurse training and a supply kit, and give vital-sign and triage guidance. It also connects caregivers with peer support through a partnership with CanCare.

In a closing round, Peters, Divers, and Indurlal said patients remain the north star, but Peters gave a reminder that culture and employee engagement matter, too.

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