Mark Moch is the chief information officer at the American Oncology Network (AON) and one of the executive directors of MiBA (Meaningful Insights Biotech Analytics), an AON informatics venture in partnership with Ascend Technologies Group and a cutting-edge data platform driving cancer research. He architects innovative tech solutions to continuously improve high-quality patient care and advance precision oncology.

His strategic IT infrastructure contributed in large part to AON’s remarkable growth and was instrumental in helping the company go public in  September 2023. This accomplishment and his dedication to innovation over the years earned him the prestigious 2023 CIO of the Year award.

In this leadership spotlight, Mark discusses how AON helps physicians and the network optimize workflows and deliver exact data at the point of care — improving the patient experience and outcomes.

How has your leadership helped AON optimize workflows for physicians within the network?

Optimizing workflows for physicians within the network begins with implementing new systems to streamline operations. We’ve introduced new applications for practice management and are leveraging robotic process automation (RPA) for complex repetitive tasks, and we expect to expand these efforts.

We also started a pilot program for our physicians to automate clinical note creations leveraging generative AI, with the Microsoft DAX Copilot program. These tools are part of our extensive integration efforts, encompassing over 150 different systems to reduce administrative burdens and improve operational efficiency.

In addition to these systems, we have built a comprehensive data warehouse that consolidates information from various sources and provides a single, unified view. Clean, consistent, and normalized data sets are crucial for making informed decisions about clinic operations, revenue cycle performance, and financial decision support.

By eliminating guesswork, we ensure that our operational and clinical decisions are well-founded. The data integration systems we’ve implemented streamline workflows by ensuring all necessary information is readily available to physicians, allowing them to focus more on patient care and less on administrative tasks.

How has your team ensured that physicians have access to clear, actionable, and relevant data when needed?

At AON and MiBA, we prioritize providing the right treatment for the right patient at the right time. We emphasize extracting and normalizing “dark data” (unstructured, hidden information within charts, PDFs, and other documents).

By leveraging modern tools like Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Large Language Models (LLM), we capture, analyze, and work to present all relevant patient journey points to physicians, ensuring they have clear, actionable, and relevant data at their fingertips.

How are you ensuring that data from various sources are seamlessly integrated into physicians’ workflows to provide a holistic view of patients?

Integrating data from diverse sources such as telehealth, electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs), surveys, self-assessments, and external lab results is crucial for providing a holistic view of patients. Genomic lab results and next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing are particularly important.

By integrating all these data points, we will soon be able to provide a comprehensive view of the patient’s journey, ensuring that physicians have all the information they need for accurate decision-making.

We want to guarantee that delivery methods align with physicians’ expectations and are inclusive of their routines. To achieve true adoption, we must ensure that they complement what we currently have in place and are easily accessible when needed.

Related: AON’s Technology Tools and Solutions

What have you found to be the most effective way to keep patient care at the core of your and your team’s work?

First, minimizing interruptions for physicians is key to maintaining a patient-first approach. Even minor changes in IT infrastructure or tools can significantly disrupt practice and patient care.

We ensure that new implementations are seamless and do not interfere with daily workflows. Our focus is on supporting clinic staff in their everyday tasks, allowing them to maintain their attention on patient care without unnecessary distractions.

Second, we believe that what we are building to support AI data analysis for physicians and introduce tools like AI-generated notes and documents will allow physicians to focus more on patients and provide truer “face time” in interactions.

How do the workflows and the data delivery system you created help reduce administrative burdens and improve physician well-being and overall patient care delivered?

We aim to implement technologies that optimize and automate workflows without burdening physicians. This means ensuring that any new system requires minimal additional data input and helps speed up processes. Effective technology should enhance, not hinder, the efficiency of clinical staff, thereby improving physician well-being and patient care.

How are you incorporating patient-generated data and empowering patients to actively participate in their healthcare journey through technology?

Patient-generated data from personal devices like smartwatches or exercise monitors is increasingly important. These data points assist in current decision-making and contribute to predictive health analytics. By creating capabilities now to ingest all of that data, over time, we aim to address diseases early or even prevent them, ultimately enhancing patient care.

What steps are you taking to ensure that AON’s solutions integrate seamlessly with existing systems used by physicians?

Internally, we make major investments in ensuring that systems “talk” to each other. We have all kinds of integration capabilities that we leverage to ensure the cleanness of data and eliminate points of possible errors.

Interoperability remains a challenge, but we are committed to overcoming it. Despite existing standards like Health Level Seven (HL7) and newer systems with application programming interface (API) and Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) capabilities, integration often boils down to individual practices and systems agreeing to work together.

AON benefits from strong community support and partnerships, allowing us to integrate and capture data that is typically hard to obtain. Participation in Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and cancer registries further supports our integration efforts.

How do you perceive AI and machine learning’s impact on healthcare, and what is your team doing to explore these technologies to optimize workflows and data analysis for physicians?

AI and machine learning hold tremendous potential for transforming healthcare, especially in oncology. For AI to be effective, it requires a vast amount of clean data.

We focus on establishing workflows that capture the right data to feed AI models. While true AI decision support for oncology physicians is still a few years away, we are preparing for it by leveraging skilled staff and advanced technology to enhance efficiency and support clinical decision-making.

How does your team stay ahead of the curve and ensure that AON’s solutions are adaptable to future needs in healthcare delivery and patient care?

We are always looking for better solutions that can drive improvements for our network, and if we cannot find “off-the-shelf” what is needed, we innovate. We built MiBA to stay ahead of the curve.

By continuously evaluating and integrating emerging technologies, we ensure that our solutions are adaptable to the evolving landscape of healthcare delivery and patient care. Our commitment to innovation and adaptability allows us to meet future healthcare needs effectively.

How is AON leading the charge in innovation regarding the solutions AON provides?

AON is at the forefront of healthcare innovation by implementing advanced IT solutions that significantly improve workflows and data delivery. All we discussed above are examples of the continuous dedication of AON to get better every day.

For example, our use of AI to streamline data processing and our focus on integrating various data sources into a cohesive system are substantially improving the efficiency and accuracy of our services and will continue to impact the quality of care. This proactive approach positions us as leaders in healthcare technology adoption.

What is your approach to building trust in AI, and how do you recommend presenting AI solutions that empower physicians to use data-driven analytics like MiBA?

Building trust in AI starts with small, low-risk tasks that demonstrate the technology’s value without jeopardizing patient safety, such as documentation. We gradually build confidence in more complex applications by showing physicians how AI can save time and improve accuracy in non-critical areas. Transparency, consistent performance, and clear demonstrations of AI’s benefits are crucial for gaining trust and encouraging adoption.

In your opinion, what are the specific areas within the healthcare data landscape where AI and machine learning have the biggest impact on improving patient care and outcomes?

Oncology stands out as the area where AI and machine learning can have the most significant impact. The need for personalized treatment requires vast amounts of data, and AI can help manage and analyze this data efficiently.

With over 1,600 treatments and vaccines in development, AI’s role in clinical trials and drug development is becoming increasingly vital.

How can tech innovation help address critical healthcare challenges like closing the cancer care gap, disease management, and rising healthcare costs?

AI can analyze social determinants of health (SDOH) data, such as socioeconomic status, access to healthcare, education levels, and environmental conditions, to identify patients at higher risk of poor health outcomes. By understanding these social factors, healthcare providers can implement targeted interventions and support services that address underlying barriers to care, thereby reducing disparities in healthcare access and outcomes.

For example, let’s look at advanced diagnostics and remote monitoring solutions.

Advanced diagnostics powered by AI can enable earlier detection and personalized treatment recommendations. This is crucial in closing the gap in cancer care, as it ensures that all patients, regardless of geographic location or socioeconomic status, have access to timely and accurate diagnoses.

Remote monitoring solutions further extend this access by allowing patients to receive continuous care and monitoring from their homes, reducing the need for frequent clinic visits. These technologies can assist underserved populations, reduce disparities in care, and manage rising healthcare costs by improving efficiency and preventative care.

Looking ahead, what emerging technologies do you see having an incredible impact on healthcare and cancer care in the next decade?

I am particularly optimistic about advancements in diagnostics and new drug developments. Emerging technologies that require only a blood sample or cheek swab to detect cancer mutations or predict treatment responses will revolutionize cancer care.

These innovations will enable earlier detection, personalized treatments, and better patient outcomes, ultimately transforming the landscape of healthcare and cancer care. All of this will be powered by technology that can analyze that data fast and provide meaningful insights.

Advances in biotechnology, such as CRISPR gene editing and high-throughput screening technologies, are accelerating the discovery and development of new cancer therapies. These innovations allow researchers to identify novel drug targets, develop more precise therapies, and conduct virtual clinical trials using computational models. By streamlining the drug development process, these technologies bring new treatments to patients faster and more efficiently.

Related: The AON Advantage for Community Oncology Practices

Connect with Mark at www.linkedin.com/in/markmoch/