When Monash Lung & Sleep Institute (MSLI) set out to improve support for lung cancer patients, one challenge stood: providing reliable, compassionate information to patients who don't speak English, especially after they leave the hospital. By partnering with CGS Immersive to deploy Cicero Coach, MSLI created a clinically governed, multilingual patient companion that conversationally delivers 24/7 support in multiple languages. The solution reduces anxiety, improves health literacy, and extends equitable care to culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations.
"This project is about making sure our most vulnerable patients aren't left behind just because they don't speak English or live far away. With Cicero, they have reliable information about their lung cancer, in their preferred language, any time of the day or night. Cicero evens the playing field, so they feel just as supported as any other patient."
– Sara McLaughlin Barrett, Lung Cancer Nurse Consultant and Healthcare Lead, Monash Lung & Sleep Institute
The challenge
Monash Lung & Sleep Institute handles more than 300 lung cancer rapid access referrals each year, serving 1.34 million people across Victoria's southeast. Despite providing interpreters for initial appointments, the clinical team identified a critical gap the moment patients went home. Patients and families with new lung cancer diagnoses had nowhere to turn with follow-up questions in their preferred language. Many resorted to "Dr. Google" or didn't return for appointments, sometimes missing potentially curative treatment windows because they didn't fully understand what was required.
The solution
Working with CGS Immersive, MSLI deployed a Cicero Coach-powered patient companion that extends expert clinical support beyond the hospital visit. Cicero Coach adapts to each patient's emotional state and communication needs, delivering clinically governed content with plain-language responses that recognize when someone needs reassurance versus detailed clinical information.
Read the full case study to discover how MSLI moved AI in healthcare beyond pilots to deliver safe, sustainable, human-centered patient support, and what it takes to achieve ethics approval, clinical governance, and measurable outcomes.
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