1、 AI as a Healthcare Ally How Americans are navigating the system with ChatGPT January 2026 Introduction 5%1 in 4 40M Of all ChatGPT messages globally are about healthcare WAU globally prompt about healthcare each week WAU globally prompt about healthcare every day OpenAI is building tools to help pe
2、ople solve problems for themselves and others,and that includes one of 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
3、 prompt about healthcare every week.More than 40 million turn to ChatGPT every day with healthcare questions.In 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
4、 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 lac
5、k of nurses(75%)are all serious problems.For 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 messa
6、ge data: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.In underserved rural communities,users send an average of nearly 600,000 healthcare-rel