A doctor’s appointment that never comes: How AI can transform healthcare (and save lives)

Andy Chang just turned 45. He lives in Chicago and holds a management position at the University of Chicago Medicine, one of America’s leading academic hospitals. At his age, he is due a colonoscopy. A routine check, nothing extraordinary. The challenge is to get the appointment. You call the hospital, and they ask you to leave a message. You do. They call you back. Another message. Call again. He proposes to solve it by mail. “You can’t,” he is told. “It has to be over the phone.” Six months on, he is still waiting.

It sounds surreal, but the fact is, it is a health system bound by bureaucracy and overwhelmed by processes that have not kept pace with the needs of the population. Chang shared his experience with hundreds of people at CNX Chicago, one of the city’s premier tech events. When the laughter died down, he said, “If AgentForce had existed, it would have got done.”

According to the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), men should start having a colonoscopy as early as age 45, even if they don’t have symptoms. Colorectal cancer is among the most common globally, and catching it early can mean the difference between preventive intervention and a race against time. Dr. Montserrat Del Castillo from UNAM, Mexico’s National Autonomous University, explains that a colonoscopy allows polyps to be identified and removed before they become malignant. “What good is the most advanced medical technology if a simple appointment takes half a year to come round?” she says.

Chang was not talking about science fiction or magic shortcuts, but about a new way of conceiving technology: as an ally to transform the human experience in systems such as healthcare. Salesforce, the leading American company in customer relationship management, calls this vision the new agentic stack: a layered software architecture that unifies data, integrates applications, activates communication flows and allows AI agents to perform specific tasks without replacing the essential human bond.

Beyond automating tasks or generating Ghibli-style images, AI can save lives. While patients continue to face considerable delays, the medical community is already debating how AI could prevent stories like Chang’s from being the norm. This potential was the focus of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, held recently in Chicago. More than 40,000 specialists discussed the future of cancer care under a clear motto: “Driving knowledge to action.”

“Medicine won’t be the same in two years because of the widespread use of artificial intelligence,” said Dr. Debra Patt of the US Cancer Network. Her statement is not based on optimism, but on evidence: AI is already helping in cancer diagnosis, the design of personalized treatments, and access to clinical trials. All of this contributes to a fairer, more efficient and patient-centered system. Of course, the environmental impact of these technologies is real and must be addressed responsibly. But ignoring their potential also involves a risk: perpetuating inefficient systems and excluding those who need help most by refusing to use a tool that can make a difference.

This is where technology such as Data Cloud, one of the pillars of Salesforce, comes into play. It allows patient information to be centralized without duplicating or fragmenting it. Integration is key to redesigning the clinical experience: anticipating, accompanying and responding in real time with precision and empathy.

In Latin America, AI is also being considered to boost efficiency in health systems. Dr. Guadalupe Rodríguez Porcayo, former president of the Mexican Society of Public Health (2023–2024), believes that AI “would be very useful and would speed up medical appointments,” even in public institutions such as the IMSS (Mexican Institute of Social Security) or the ISSSTE (Institute of Security and Social Services of State Workers). However, she points out that its effectiveness in the healthcare system would be limited by a structural problem: the shortage of medical personnel.

“More appointments can be scheduled with AI, but if there are not enough health professionals, each patient will continue to wait their turn. Technology does not replace the time needed for quality care,” she says. The real challenge, she says, is to reinforce the first level of care and promote a culture of prevention. “The underlying problem is the lack of health education in the population and timely detection. There is a lot of work to be done in health centers and family clinics.”

AI alone will not solve all problems, but it can be a powerful ally in building a more agile, fair, and people-centered health system. If accompanied by political will, investment in medical personnel and a clear commitment to prevention, it is possible that stories like Andy Chang’s will begin to become the exception, in the U.S., in Mexico and in the rest of Latin America.

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