[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-160572-en":3,"doc-seo-160572-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},160572,4398048949847,"Eliana","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/400002536579ef2da7f?_k=1778318612642679267",7,"Healthcare","AI as a Healthcare Ally - How Americans are navigating the system with ChatGPT - January 2026","AI as a Healthcare Ally examines how people in the United States use ChatGPT to navigate a healthcare system widely viewed as costly and difficult to access. Drawing on anonymized message data, it highlights intensive use for health insurance questions, care coordination, and after-visit administration such as billing, claims, and denials. The report describes how users gain agency by translating clinical and administrative jargon, organizing information, and generating drafts they can verify with patient-specific context and professionals.","AI as a Healthcare Ally  \nHow Americans are navigating the system with ChatGPT  \nJanuary 2026  \nIntroduction  \n>5%  \nOf all ChatGPT messages globally are about healthcare  \n1 in 4  \nWAU globally prompt about healthcare each week  \n>40M  \nWAU globally prompt about healthcare every day  \nOpenAI is building tools to help people solve problems for themselves and others, and that includes oneof their most challenging issues: navigating their healthcare. More than 5% of all ChatGPT messages globally are about healthcare, averaging billions of messages each week. Of our more than 800 million regular users, one in four submits a prompt about healthcare every week. More than 40 million turn to ChatGPT every day with healthcare questions.  \nIn the United States, the healthcare system is a long-standing and worsening pain point for many. Gallup finds that views of US healthcare quality have sunk to a 24-year-low; that Americans give the system a C+ on access and a D+ on costs; and that a combined 70% believe the system has major problems or is in a state of crisis. In our own research, three in five Americans say the current system is broken, and strong majorities tell us that hospital costs (87%), poor healthcare access (77%), and a lack of nurses (75%) are all serious problems.  \nFor both patients and providers in the US, ChatGPT has become an important ally, helping people navigate the healthcare system, enabling them to self-advocate, and supporting both patients and providers for better health outcomes. Based on anonymized ChatGPT message data:  \n● Nearly 2 million messages per week focus on health insurance, including for comparing plans, understanding prices, handling claims and billing, eligibility and enrollment, and coverage and cost-sharing details.  \n● In underserved rural communities, users send an average of nearly 600,000 healthcare-related messages every week.  \n● And seven in 10 healthcare conversations in ChatGPT happen outside of normal clinic hours.  \nThis report details: (1) how users are turning to ChatGPT for help in navigating the US healthcare system; (2) how they’re turning to ChatGPT to help them close healthcare access gaps, including in  \n 2  \n“hospital deserts” across the country; and (3) how healthcare providers and workers are using AI in their roles now.  \nWe also include (4) initial proposals to update healthcare policy for the Intelligence Age; and (5) a look at how healthcare professionals and start-ups are innovating with ChatGPT in life sciences to improve healthcare outcomes – because use of AI to discover or accelerate even one new drug or treatment could have a profound impact on public health.  \n3  \n1. Navigating the system  \n1.6M-1.9M  \nThe number of ChatGPT messages about health insurance sent per week – including for comparing plans, understanding prices, handling claims and billing, eligibility and enrollment, and coverage and cost-sharing details.  \nAmericans are using AI and ChatGPT to equip themselves with information to gain more agency over their health, particularly when dealing with a system that’s difficult to navigate and makes decisions without a lot of context. ChatGPT users send more than 1.5 million to nearly 2 million messages about health insurance each week, according to anonymized message data, to help themselves compare plans and understand coverage, pricing, claims, billing and cost-sharing, eligibility and enrollment.  \nIn general, three in five adults in the US say they’ve used AI tools for their health or healthcare in the past three months, according to an OpenAI survey. They are using AI to get information when they first feel unwell, consulting it to prepare for their visits with their clinicians, and using it to better comprehend patient instructions and recommendations. They’re also using it to deal with the administrative aftermath of billing, claims, and denials.  \n4  \nThis underscores how Americans are using AI for healthcare navigation: organizing information, transla","cbCaiuZMA4GtkZeN","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuZMA4GtkZeN","pdf",12560466,1,18,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## ChatGPT usage for healthcare\n## Why navigation is hard in the US\n# Navigating the system\n## Health insurance questions\n## Reliability and patient-specific context\n## Case examples: urgent care coordination\n## Case examples: self-advocacy and administration","[{\"question\":\"How are Americans using ChatGPT to navigate healthcare?\",\"answer\":\"Americans use ChatGPT to organize information, translate jargon, and draft questions or explanations they can verify with patient-specific context such as insurance documents, clinical instructions, and portal data.\"},{\"question\":\"What healthcare topic receives the most ChatGPT prompts?\",\"answer\":\"Health insurance, including comparing plans, understanding pricing, handling claims and billing, and working through eligibility, enrollment, and coverage or cost-sharing details.\"},{\"question\":\"How does ChatGPT help outside of normal clinic hours?\",\"answer\":\"Most healthcare conversations occur outside regular clinic hours, enabling people to seek timely information and support when they are preparing for visits or managing follow-up tasks.\"}]","AI as a Healthcare Ally - How Americans are navigating the system with ChatGPT - January 2026 | PDF",1788069038,45,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"ai-as-a-healthcare-ally-how-americans-are-navigating-the-system-with-chatgpt-january-2026","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,54,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/ai-as-a-healthcare-ally-how-americans-are-navigating-the-system-with-chatgpt-january-2026/160572/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-30",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"How are Americans using ChatGPT to navigate healthcare?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"Americans use ChatGPT to organize information, translate jargon, and draft questions or explanations they can verify with patient-specific context such as insurance documents, clinical instructions, and portal data.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"What healthcare topic receives the most ChatGPT prompts?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"Health insurance, including comparing plans, understanding pricing, handling claims and billing, and working through eligibility, enrollment, and coverage or cost-sharing details.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"How does ChatGPT help outside of normal clinic hours?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"Most healthcare conversations occur outside regular clinic hours, enabling people to seek timely information and support when they are preparing for visits or managing follow-up tasks.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,101,105,110,115,118,123,128,131,135],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},40,"healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]