OpenAI Rolls Out Health in ChatGPT for US Users, Integrates Medical Records Access
Advertisement
The feature allows users to connect Apple Health data and supported medical records, including records available through healthcare organisations
OpenAI has announced the wider rollout of the Health Feature in ChatGPT, expanding access to a dedicated health experience for all eligible users in the United States.
The latest model seeks to enable all eligible users to securely connect their medical records and wellness data with the ChatGPT platform.
The new experience is designed to help users better understand their personal health information by bringing together data from supported electronic medical records and Apple Health within ChatGPT.
With user permission, the platform can reference connected health information to explain laboratory results, summarise changes between appointments, answer questions based on an individual's health history, and help users prepare for consultations with healthcare professionals
According to OpenAI, more than 300 million people use ChatGPT every week for health-related questions, including understanding lab reports and preparing for medical appointments.
With the medical records integration, the AI company aims to transform ChatGPT from a general health Q&A tool into a more personalized health companion that can draw on users’ medical and wearable data for deeper context.
The feature allows users to connect Apple Health data and supported medical records, including records available through healthcare organisations using Epic and Oracle Health electronic health record systems, as well as participating providers such as One Medical and Function Health.
In addition, users with smartwatches, fitness trackers and nutrition apps linked to Apple Health can also choose to share that information with ChatGPT.
After connecting, users can review and update details such as medical conditions, medications and family health history. The feature also enables users to remove outdated information or add missing details.
The Health in ChatGPT feature was initially announced in January this year and underwent testing with a limited group of users before wider rollout in the US.
The company used feedback from those users to refine the experience while also continuing to improve the models that power it, reports stated.
As per the company, it collaborates with a global network of hundreds of physician advisors across 60 countries to train and evaluate its medical intelligence features like ChatGPT Health, executives said. These physicians test the model's performance on health questions, and they develop realistic health scenarios and detailed rubrics that define what a strong response should do, OpenAI shared in a blog post.
These evaluations assess qualities including accuracy, safety, communication, context awareness, completeness, and appropriate escalation.
The company stated that it has strengthened the AI models behind Health in ChatGPT through dedicated training.
According to the company, GPT-5.5 Instant is designed to better recognise situations that may require urgent medical attention, seek relevant context, explain complex health information more clearly, and facilitate appropriate escalation.
For paid subscribers, OpenAI introduced GPT-5.6 Sol, which the company describes as its most advanced model for health-related interactions to date.
The model is designed to assist users in understanding clinical visit notes, tracking changes in laboratory results over time, reviewing treatment options discussed with healthcare professionals, and preparing questions for follow-up appointments.
OpenAI further claimed every GPT‑5.6 model outperformed GPT‑5.5 on HealthBench Professional (opens PDF), an evaluation of AI performance on challenging health tasks,
Commenting on the latest models, Ashley Alexander, VP of Health Products at OpenAI, said, "Our latest GPT-5 models are correctly recommending people go to immediate emergency care greater than 99% of the time when it should, and we also are seeing, against those same evaluations, that it's also importantly avoiding unnecessary escalation to emergency care also 99% of the time.”
OpenAI emphasised that Health in ChatGPT is intended to support, not replace, professional medical care.
The company said all conversations are encrypted in transit and at rest, with connected health information receiving additional encryption protections. It added that ChatGPT seeks user permission before accessing connected health data to personalise responses.
Further, the rollout also includes additional privacy and security measures tailored for health information. OpenAI stated that connected medical records, Apple Health data and conversations that use this information are protected with layered security controls and are not used to train OpenAI's foundation models or serve targeted advertisements. Users remain in control of which health sources they connect and when ChatGPT can access that information.
As per reports, the feature previously available to a few users is now available to all logged-in users aged 18 and above across the Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans on the web and iOS platforms.
Stay tuned for more such updates on Digital Health News
