As consumers turn to AI, health systems must engage earlier in the care journey

Buzz This Week

Consumers are increasingly using AI for healthcare questions before turning to a provider. New research from KFF, Rock Health, and Microsoft shows that AI use for health is now affecting how and when patients enter the system. For many, AI is becoming the first step in the care journey.

Much of that consumer activity happens on general-purpose platforms rather than provider- or payer-offered tools, and some of it involves personal health questions that once stayed within health system channels.

Several patterns stand out:

AI is becoming a mainstream source of health guidance. KFF found that 32% of adults used AI in the past year for physical or mental health information or advice. The most common use cases were:
- Looking up symptoms or general information about health conditions (27%)
- Explaining tests, lab results, or diagnoses (19%)
- Comparing treatment options (19%)
- Helping decide whether to seek care (16%)

General-purpose tools still lead this activity, with ChatGPT far ahead of provider and payer chatbots.

AI chats often lead to real-world actions. More than 4 in 5 AI users reported at least one follow-on action, including consulting a provider, changing an appointment, or making an appointment. More than one-half of adults who used AI for physical health advice later followed up with a clinician.
AI use is higher when access barriers are greatest. Younger and lower-income adults were more likely to cite affordability or lack of access as major reasons for using AI. Personal health questions also increase in the evening and at night, when traditional access points are more limited.
Consumers are bringing personal health information into AI tools. 77% of adults are concerned about the privacy of personal medical information provided to AI tools, yet 41% of adults who used AI for physical or mental health information said they had uploaded personal medical information into an AI tool or chatbot.

Together, these trends suggest that AI is influencing the care journey before patients interact with the health system.

Why It Matters

For health systems, this is a shift in where and how the care journey begins. More consumers now turn to AI before they contact a provider or look for an appointment. By the time they enter the system, many consumers arrive with an initial view of their condition and expectations for next steps. That raises the stakes of the first interaction and limits the influence of providers over the earliest stage of decision-making.

In our 2026 Health System Outlook, we noted that the next phase of consumerism will be driven by technology-powered personalization. Delivering on that vision requires a clearer view of the healthcare buying journey. Leaders need to know where consumers encounter friction and what drives them to seek answers outside system channels.

Reducing access friction is a practical first step. Consumers turn to AI because it is immediate, available after hours, and easy to use, particularly when the healthcare system feels slow or difficult to navigate. That points to a set of near-term priorities: clearer guidance around test results and care decisions, along with easier navigation and better support outside office hours. If accessing care remains cumbersome, consumers will continue to look elsewhere.

This shift also affects access operations. As more patients arrive with AI-influenced questions and expectations, health systems may see changes in how demand shows up at the front door. Some consumers may seek care sooner. Others may arrive with a preferred next step already in mind.

These changes are important as many organizations are already redesigning access and primary care workflows to manage routine demand more efficiently. Evolving consumer behavior will need to be incorporated into those models.

As health systems adapt to access changes, they will also need to decide how they show up in the AI-enabled channels consumers increasingly use. That includes how organizations make their expertise visible in AI-generated search and answer environments, guide consumers toward appropriate next steps, and support escalation to care when needed.

Meeting consumers in those channels is more complicated for health systems than public AI companies. Some consumers appear ready to trade a degree of privacy and control in exchange for speed and convenience by entering their personal health information into public AI tools. But provider- or payer-offered alternatives must operate within HIPAA and related requirements.

As we noted in our January Top Reads on OpenAI’s and Anthropic’s new healthcare products, consumer-facing AI is moving quickly, while health systems will need to embed governance and observability as a core strategy from the start.

Health systems will need to better understand where and why consumers leave health system channels, then reduce friction at those points. They also need to prepare for care journeys in which more patients arrive AI-informed and more interactions begin via AI-enabled channels. Organizations that adapt accordingly will be better positioned to guide consumer decision-making and meet changing expectations.