OpenAI’s new ChatGPT Health to securely connect medical records and wellness apps

New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS) OpenAI has introduced ChatGPT Health, a dedicated experience to securely connect people’s medical records and wellness apps. 

The San Francisco-based artificial intelligence (AI) giant has developed the new experience, with close collaboration from more than 260 physicians practicing across 60 countries.

“You can securely connect medical records and wellness apps to ground conversations in your own health information, so responses are more relevant and useful to you. Designed in close collaboration with physicians, ChatGPT Health helps people take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness -- while supporting, not replacing, care from clinicians,” Open AI said in a blog post.

OpenAI noted that the feature comes amid heavy demand for health queries on ChatGPT -- over 230 million people globally ask health and wellness-related questions on ChatGPT every week.

However, the company stated that the new feature is just “designed to support, not replace, medical care”.

“It is not intended for diagnosis or treatment. Instead, it helps you navigate everyday questions and understand patterns over time -- not just moments of illness -- so you can feel more informed and prepared for important medical conversations,” it said.

With ChatGPT Health, individuals can securely connect medical records and wellness apps -- like Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal. The new feature will help individuals decode test results, prepare for appointments with a doctor, get advice on how to approach diet and workout routine, or understand the tradeoffs of different insurance options based on healthcare patterns.

OpenAI also mentioned that it is taking several measures to protect sensitive health information beyond basic ChatGPT security.

Users will be able to delete chats from OpenAI’s systems within 30 days, and it has been trained not to retain personal information from user chats. While conversations and files across ChatGPT are encrypted by default at rest, individuals can further strengthen access controls by enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA)⁠.

ChatGPT Health will be initially rolled out to a small group of early users to learn and continue refining the experience. The company noted that users with ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans outside of the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK are eligible.

In the coming weeks, the company plans to expand access and make Health available to all users on the web and iOS. It noted that medical record integrations and some apps are available in the US only, and connecting to Apple Health requires iOS.

--IANS

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