How Patients Are Using AI for Medical Diagnosis in 2026

How Patients Are Using AI for Medical Diagnosis in 2026

As the United States faces a growing primary care physician shortage, millions of patients are turning to AI tools for medical guidance—sometimes with life-saving results.

The Primary Care Crisis

Finding a primary care doctor has become increasingly difficult across much of the United States. In Massachusetts—home to some of the nation's top hospitals—the primary care workforce is shrinking faster than in most other states, according to a recent report from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission.

Tammy MacDonald, a 48-year-old director at Blue Hills Adult Education in Dedham, Massachusetts, experienced this firsthand when her doctor died suddenly in August 2025. She called ten primary care practices near her home. None were accepting new patients. Some told her she would need to wait eighteen months to two years for an appointment.

"I was just shocked by that, because we live in Boston, and we're supposed to have this great medical care," MacDonald told NPR. "I couldn't get my mind around the fact that we didn't have any doctors."

AI Steps In

When Mass General Brigham—the state's largest hospital network—launched its AI-supported Care Connect program in September 2025, MacDonald was among the first to try it. After downloading the app and chatting with an AI agent about her symptoms, she received a summary that was sent to a primary care doctor. She had an appointment within one to two days—far faster than the two-year wait she had been told to expect.

The AI tool handles patients seeking care for common urgent care needs: colds, nausea, rashes, sprains, mild to moderate mental health concerns, and issues related to chronic diseases. After the patient describes their symptoms, the AI sends a summary to a doctor who can see the patient by video the next day.

Patients Using ChatGPT for Diagnosis

Beyond structured telehealth programs, millions of patients are directly consulting AI chatbots for medical advice. According to OpenAI, hundreds of millions of people now use ChatGPT weekly for health and wellness guidance.

In some cases, the results have been dramatic. Bethany Crystal, a consultant in New York, woke up from a nap to find red spots on her legs. After exchanging messages with ChatGPT, she was told she needed "immediate evaluation for possible bleeding risk." She was eventually diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenic purpura, a rare autoimmune disorder that can lead to increased bleeding. Crystal said she might not have gone to the emergency room in time had ChatGPT not been insistent.

"Three weeks ago I woke up from a nap and found some red spots all over my legs," she recounted in a video. "What ensued was a harrowing three day experience that got increasingly scary."

In another case, Burt Rosen, a 60-year-old Oregon man managing two different cancers, uses AI to track symptoms, find correlations with diet or other triggers, and understand treatment options. When he told AI he was experiencing migraines and nausea after sleeping, it suggested he use two pillows instead of one—a simple change that resolved his headaches.

The Doctor's Perspective

The shift is changing the patient-physician relationship. "When I go into a doctor's appointment, I'm no longer going in to have him explain to me my scans or my conditions," Rosen said. "My doctor's appointment is much more of an action-planning session."

Dave deBronkart, a cancer survivor who writes about patients using AI, says he frequently hears stories about AI identifying symptoms that differentiate unusual or rare conditions from more common ailments.

"There's a saying in medicine: 'If you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras,'" deBronkart noted. "But I've heard from a number of patients who said, 'Well, guess what? I'm a zebra.'"

Unlike doctors who must move quickly through patient appointments, AI has nearly unlimited time to engage in exhaustive inquiry. AI's diagnostic catalogs also extend beyond generalized medical knowledge to include information about rarer conditions that may fall outside a general practitioner's immediate expertise.

Risks and Limitations

The use of AI in healthcare is not without significant concerns. As a consumer product, ChatGPT Health is not regulated by health privacy laws the way a medical provider's systems are in a clinical setting. OpenAI is currently named in multiple active lawsuits alleging psychological harm from its AI outputs.

Medical professionals emphasize that AI is not a replacement for a doctor. Patients and doctors alike stress that considering AI as a substitute for professional medical care can be dangerous.

What's Next

In January 2026, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Health, a new platform that offers enhanced security for sharing medical records and data. It joins other AI tools such as My Doctor Friend in promising to partner with patients on navigating healthcare.

As the primary care shortage continues to worsen, the adoption of AI diagnostic tools is likely to accelerate—raising questions about regulation, privacy, and the future of the patient-physician relationship.

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Sources:

• •NPR, "Your next primary care doctor could be online only, accessed through an AI tool" (January 9, 2026)
• •NPR, "'ChatGPT saved my life.' How patients, and doctors, are using AI to make a diagnosis" (January 30, 2026)
• •Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, "Dire Diagnosis: Declining Health of Primary Care in Massachusetts"