OpenAI just introduced ChatGPT Health, a dedicated space within its chatbot designed to help people make sense of fragmented health information.
The feature allows users to securely connect medical records and wellness apps such as Apple Health and MyFitnessPal, centralizing data that's typically scattered across patient portals, PDFs and wearable devices. Over 230 million people already ask ChatGPT health-related questions weekly, and the company is betting that grounding those conversations in actual medical data will make responses more useful (and its service a whole lot stickier).
ChatGPT Health operates as a separate environment with enhanced privacy protections, including purpose-built encryption. Conversations within Health aren't used to train OpenAI's models, and the data stays compartmentalized from regular ChatGPT chats. The feature was developed over two years with input from more than 260 physicians across 60 countries. OpenAI emphasizes that the tool is designed to support, not replace, medical care — helping people prepare for appointments, understand lab results and spot patterns over time rather than providing diagnosis or treatment.
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ChatGPT Health legitimizes something already happening at scale. With 230 million people turning to AI for health questions weekly, the launch recognizes a fundamental shift in how people approach their wellbeing: from episodic care centered on symptoms and appointments to continuous self-understanding built on patterns and preparation. By creating a psychologically separate space with enhanced privacy and physician collaboration, OpenAI is addressing what keeps most health AI from gaining traction: people need permission to be vulnerable with their data.
If OpenAI can demonstrate rock-solid privacy protection and data integrity, ChatGPT Health could allow healthcare to (re)organize around individuals rather than medical institutions — enabling consumers to get a better grip on their health as a holistic entity, which by its very essence is unique to them. It's a way to help them understand themselves, not just their symptoms. For brands across wellness, insurance and healthcare, the bar just moved! And standalone apps that don't integrate with ChatGPT Health (or similar ecosystems by Anthropic or Google) will struggle to justify their place in people's lives.