Ontada and Microsoft collaboration enhances oncology RWD with AI

Ontada and Microsoft collaborate to accelerate unstructured oncology data processing using Azure AI, improving real-world data (RWD) for drug development, patient care, and research insights.

Ontada®, a McKesson business focused on oncology RWD, clinical education, and point-of-care technologies, has joined forces with Microsoft to transform the processing of unstructured oncology data. This collaboration leverages Microsoft’s Azure AI, including the Azure OpenAI Service, to improve the speed and quality of unstructured data extraction from over 150 million oncology documents.

By utilizing Microsoft’s advanced AI technology, Ontada can now process unstructured data faster. This will significantly benefit life sciences companies, as these organizations rely on high-quality RWD to accelerate drug development, enhance treatment adoption, and improve patient education. Christine Davis, President of Ontada, stated:

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"Our strategic collaboration with Microsoft enables us to extend the boundaries of AI-driven oncology research by generating meaningful and actionable data at unprecedented scale and speed. This innovative approach empowers us to deliver comprehensive and RWD about the patient’s journey, and enhanced patient outcomes through personalized treatment.”

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A major issue in healthcare is that around 80% of critical data remains unstructured, including clinical notes, medical images, and lab results. Most of this data – estimated at 97% – remains unanalyzed, limiting its usefulness. Ontada’s use of Microsoft’s Batch API from the Azure OpenAI Service enables more efficient extraction of clinical data, improving data quality and providing a fuller picture of the patient’s journey. Ontada’s data science team has already applied large language models (LLMs) to identify nearly 100 key oncology data elements across thirty-nine different cancer types.

Microsoft’s Tyler Bryson, Corporate Vice President, US Health & Public Sector Industries, highlighted the importance of this collaboration:

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“Our collaboration with Ontada is providing critical insights into the full capabilities of Microsoft Azure AI and its potential to exponentially increase their computing power and process this valuable data at scale… we look forward to working with Ontada to further enhance the quality of the RWD they are able to generate.”

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At the core of this initiative is Ontada’s ON.Genuity™ platform, which combines advanced AI with a sophisticated common data model to generate RWD with significant clinical depth. The platform pulls from Ontada’s proprietary electronic health records (EHRs) system, iKnowMed, which was designed with oncologists to provide timely patient information and customizable decision support, integrating smoothly into existing workflows. This data-driven approach strengthens Ontada’s ability to support life sciences companies and healthcare providers by offering insights that span the full patient journey.

Earlier this year, in May 2024, Ontada presented new research at ISPOR 2024, exploring the rich, untapped potential of unstructured data in EHRs. Their abstract, titled, "Use of Natural Language Processing to Augment Real-World Data (RWD) and Identify Eligible Patients at Scale for Oncology Studies," highlighted how practical examples of medical natural language processing (NLP) approaches are essential for assessing their performance in generating fit-for-purpose RWD from unstructured data.