OpenAI on Wednesday launched ChatGPT Health, a dedicated health experience within ChatGPT that combines users' personal health information with the company's artificial intelligence, promising to help people better manage their health and wellness.
Here are five things to know about the announcement.
There is a clear need for this solution
OpenAI reports that more than 230 million people around the world ask ChatGPT about health and wellness questions every week. The company's new service aims to meet this need, providing users with a more structured and secure way to access health-related information.
“To have a greater impact, we need to make it easier for anyone to discover the possibilities of ChatGPT and get the full value of their health from it. For example, it would be a pain to go through several different medical systems, figure out how to download the files, and then upload them all into ChatGPT,” Fidji Simo, CEO of OpenAI Applications, said in a Substack post on Tuesday.
ChatGPT Health aims to enable more personalized health conversations
ChatGPT Health is a dedicated space for users to have health conversations, where they can connect their medical records and data from health apps such as Apple Health, Function Health, Peloton and MyFitnessPal.
This enables ChatGPT to provide more relevant, personalized support. For example, users can ask questions to help understand recent lab results, get help preparing for a doctor's appointment or receive daily health coaching tailored to their diet, activity level and health history.
“ChatGPT Health is another step in transforming ChatGPT into a personal super assistant that empowers you with information and tools to achieve your goals in any part of your life,” Simo declared in her post.
OpenAI also emphasized that the new platform is not intended for medical diagnosis or treatment. The company positions it as a support for personal health navigation rather than a clinical service.
The service is designed with privacy in mind
OpenAI highlights that its new product allows health chats to take place in a separate, secure space with enhanced protections such as encryption and dedicated memory. The company also notes that these health conversations will not be used to train OpenAI’s underlying model.
Kristen Valdes, CEO of b.well, explained that OpenAI selected b.well as the underlying connectivity layer for this new service, enabling ChatGPT Health users to securely link their medical records and other health data to the platform through “consumer-controlled consent,” meaning individuals can decide what information is shared, how it is used, and can revoke access at any time.
“We believe in informed consent. We believe consumers are fully responsible and they have the right to direct their data in any way they want. They also have the right to take that data away,” she declared.
To her, the partnership reflects a shift toward meeting existing consumer needs—as patients increasingly turn to large language models for health information between clinical visits.
Valdes said the role of b.well is to give these conversations broader context by letting users connect as much or as little health data as they choose, helping to reduce what she calls “portalitis,” the fragmentation caused by dozens of disconnected patient portals.
Doctors help guide development of new platform
When building and evaluating ChatGPT Health, OpenAI worked with hundreds of doctors around the world to ensure its responses are useful and accountable.
OpenAI says physician feedback informs how the platform presents information, including when to encourage users to seek professional care.
Being rolled out in phases
The new product will initially be available to a small group of early adopters, but OpenAI is encouraging consumers to join a waitlist.
The company says the platform should be widely available in the coming weeks.
Photo: alexsl, Getty Images
