A Penn Medicine team has developed a machine learning algorithm that flags patients with cancer who are likely to die within the next six months to encourage patients to have end-of-life conversations with their families and doctors, Penn Medicine News reported.
“Patients oftentimes don’t bring up their wishes and goals unless they are prompted, and doctors may not have the time to do so in a busy clinic," lead author, and Penn professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy Ravi Parikh told Penn Med News. "Having an algorithm like this may make doctors in clinic stop and think, ‘Is this the right time to talk about this patient’s preferences?’"