OpenAI Group PBC today previewed ChatGPT Health, an upcoming feature that will help users of its chatbot service find medical information.

The feature takes the form of a new section in the ChatGPT interface. According to OpenAI, the chatbot will detect when users enter medical questions into the main chat box and suggest that they switch to ChatGPT Health. It’s also possible to launch the feature manually through a button on the sidebar.

OpenAI says ChatGPT Health supports a wide range of healthcare-related prompts. Users can ask it to explain lab results, put together an exercise plan and recommend questions to ask during a medical appointment. It’s possible to customize how the feature answers prompts by providing it with high-level instructions ahead of time.

Users can further personalize ChatGPT Health by giving it access to their medical data. The feature is capable of importing a patient’s health records through an integration with a clinical data management platform called B.well. An Instacart connector enables ChatGPT Health to turn a meal plan into food orders.

The feature can also integrate with several popular wellness apps, most notably Apple Health. The app provides access to healthcare metrics collected by the user’s Apple Watch. The smartwatch can track the wearer’s heart rate, sleeping patterns and running form along with more than a half-dozen other data points.

OpenAI will store ChatGPT Health data separately from other account information. According to the company, the infrastructure it uses to host medical details includes “purpose-built encryption and isolation” mechanisms. Its engineers won’t use the data in AI training projects and users can delete their medical chat histories.

The company developed the large language model that powers ChatGPT with the help of HealthBench, a benchmark dataset it released in May. The dataset includes more than 48,000 physician-written rubrics for evaluating AI-generated answers to medical questions. OpenAI says it created HealthBench in collaboration with over 260 medical professionals across dozens of specialties.

ChatGPT Health will initially become accessible through a waitlist. According to OpenAI, the goal is to test the feature with a limited number of early adopters before making it broadly available. The company plans to roll out ChatGPT Health to the rest of its installed base in the coming weeks.

The launch could prompt other players in the consumer chatbot market to introduce similar features, particularly if ChatGPT Health proves popular. OpenAI disclosed today that more than 230 million of its users ask health and wellness questions every week. 

Image: OpenAI