ChatGPT Health rollout brings medical records into main chat
OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT Health across the US, letting users connect records and ask health questions in regular ChatGPT chats.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
OpenAI is making the ChatGPT Health rollout available to everyone in the US on Thursday, The Verge reported, widening access to a feature that lets people connect medical records and health-tracking data to the chatbot. The expansion puts health information inside a mainstream AI chat product while OpenAI is making broad claims about how its models perform on health-related reasoning.
During a briefing cited by The Verge, Ashley Alexander, OpenAI’s vice president of health product, said the company’s models are now able to reason at levels “better than clinician level.” OpenAI health lead Karan Singhal later softened that framing when asked for more detail, saying he would “temper” the claim while pointing to individual studies, including one from Harvard and Stanford, that he said have suggested results in that direction.
The rollout arrives as OpenAI faces scrutiny over medical guidance given by ChatGPT. The New York Times reported Wednesday that a Florida pastor sued OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT gave him “extremely dangerous medical recommendations” and that he delayed medical care for a pulmonary embolism.
What is ChatGPT Health?
ChatGPT Health is an OpenAI feature that lets users connect medical information and health-tracking data to ChatGPT, according to The Verge. With the broader release, users can ask questions about connected health information in the main ChatGPT chat experience.
OpenAI previously separated the feature into a dedicated ChatGPT Health tab, The Verge reported. The update means users no longer have to switch into that tab to ask questions tied to their connected medical information.
How will ChatGPT use medical records?
OpenAI says ChatGPT will request permission before using a person’s health information to tailor an answer, according to The Verge. Users will also be able to review and adjust the health data they connect, including post-visit notes, care team notes, lab results and medications.
The company says conversations are encrypted both when stored and while being transmitted, The Verge reported. OpenAI also says health information connected through ChatGPT Health gets additional encryption protection.
The wider release follows OpenAI’s launch, several weeks ago, of GPT-5.6 Sol, which the company described as its strongest health model yet, according to The Verge. ChatGPT Health will use OpenAI’s latest models.
OpenAI’s comments place the company’s health ambitions in a high-stakes category of AI use, where users may ask questions tied to diagnoses, prescriptions, lab work or recent visits. The company is presenting the feature as a way to personalize answers from connected records, while the lawsuit reported by The New York Times shows the risks alleged by at least one user when medical advice from ChatGPT is treated as guidance for real care decisions.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.