Key Statistics from OpenAI Report
- 40+ million people globally ask ChatGPT healthcare questions every day
- >5% of all ChatGPT messages worldwide are about healthcare
- 1.6-1.9 million weekly messages focus on health insurance specifically
- 1 in 4 weekly active users submit healthcare prompts each week
- 70% of healthcare conversations happen outside clinic hours (before 8am or after 5pm)
- 66% of US physicians now use AI for at least one clinical or administrative task
- ~600,000 weekly healthcare messages from rural 'hospital deserts'
In January 2026, OpenAI released a landmark report titled 'AI as a Healthcare Ally: How Americans are navigating the system with ChatGPT.' The findings provide valuable insights into how both patients and healthcare professionals are adopting AI tools for everything from understanding insurance policies to managing clinical workflows.
For revenue cycle teams, the implications are significant. As patients become more informed about their coverage and more sophisticated in challenging denials, healthcare organizations need specialized AI tools to keep pace. This analysis examines all key findings and their implications for providers.
OpenAI. 'AI as a Healthcare Ally: How Americans are navigating the system with ChatGPT.' January 2026. Read the full report →
The Scale of AI Healthcare Adoption in 2026
According to the OpenAI report, the scale of AI adoption in healthcare is remarkable:
With over 800 million regular users worldwide, the volume of healthcare-related AI conversations now reaches into the billions of messages weekly. This represents a fundamental shift in how people access health information.
Health Insurance Queries: What Patients Are Asking AI
One of the most significant findings focuses on health insurance. The report reveals that 1.6 to 1.9 million ChatGPT messages per week are specifically about health insurance topics:
- Plan comparisons — Understanding differences between insurance options
- Coverage details — What services and treatments are included
- Claims and billing — Navigating the reimbursement process
- Eligibility and enrollment — Qualification requirements and sign-up procedures
- Cost-sharing — Understanding deductibles, copays, and out-of-pocket maximums
This volume of insurance-related queries reflects the complexity patients face. According to Gallup research cited in the report, views of US healthcare quality have reached a 24-year low, with Americans giving the system a C+ on access and a D+ on costs. A combined 70% believe the system has major problems or is in crisis.
How Patients Use AI for Healthcare Navigation
The OpenAI survey of over 1,000 US adults who used AI for healthcare revealed these use cases:
| Use Case | % of Users |
|---|---|
| Check or explore symptoms | 55% |
| Ask questions at any time of day | 52% |
| Understand medical terms or instructions | 48% |
| Learn about treatment options | 44% |
The report also found that three in five US adults (60%) have used AI tools for their health or healthcare in the past three months.
Patient Self-Advocacy: Winning Insurance Appeals with AI
The OpenAI report includes a compelling case study that illustrates how patients are using AI for insurance advocacy. A Seattle resident named Rich Kaplan, who has a rare auto-immune clotting disease, used ChatGPT to overturn an insurance denial for a clinician-recommended therapy.
🏆 Case Study: Using AI to Win an Insurance Appeal
His approach involved:
- Using AI to find relevant clinical studies, trials, and case reports
- Producing a cited literature review supporting medical necessity
- Successfully winning approval through the arbitration process
After the approval, Kaplan continued using AI to manage his care between appointments—summarizing visit notes, extracting lab trends, generating question lists for specialists, and identifying potential medication interactions.
When patients can use general-purpose AI to research policies and build appeals, healthcare organizations benefit from specialized AI tools that provide even more comprehensive, accurate, and efficiently retrieved payer policy information. Purpose-built solutions like DataRovers' Payer Policy Copilot help revenue cycle teams keep pace with increasingly informed patients.
The After-Hours Healthcare Information Gap
One of the report's most striking findings: seven in ten (70%) healthcare conversations in ChatGPT happen outside of normal clinic hours (before 8am or after 5pm local time).
This statistic reveals a significant unmet need for accessible health information. Patients have questions about their coverage, conditions, and care options—but those questions don't always arise during business hours. For healthcare organizations, this underscores the value of AI tools that provide instant answers without waiting for callbacks or portal searches.
Healthcare Professional AI Adoption Trends
The report also examines how healthcare workers themselves are adopting AI. According to American Medical Association (AMA) data cited in the report, professional AI adoption has grown significantly:
| Physician AI Adoption Metric | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Using AI for at least one use case | 38% | 66% |
| Using AI for billing codes/charts/notes | 13% | 21% |
| Using AI for diagnostic assistance | 11% | 12% |
AI Usage by Healthcare Role (Weekly)
According to Wolters Kluwer and Ipsos research cited in the report, here is weekly AI usage by healthcare occupation:
| Healthcare Role | Weekly AI Use |
|---|---|
| Medical Librarians | 53% |
| Nurses | 46% |
| Administrators | 43% |
| Pharmacists | 41% |
| Physicians | 38% |
| Allied Health Workers (PT, dietitians, paramedics) | 26% |
The AMA survey also showed that 75% of physicians consider AI tools very or somewhat helpful for work efficiency, and 72% consider them helpful for diagnostic ability. The use cases showing the biggest jumps in perceived helpfulness include managing stress and the ability to offer personalized care.
Rural Healthcare: AI Closing Access Gaps
The report dedicates significant attention to AI usage in underserved areas. OpenAI analyzed ChatGPT usage in 'hospital deserts'—locations more than 30 minutes from a general medical or children's hospital. According to Chartis, nearly half (46%) of all rural hospitals operate with negative margins, and more than 400 across 38 states are considered vulnerable to closure.
Top States for Healthcare Messages from Hospital Deserts
| Rank | State | Share of Messages | Monthly Volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wyoming | 4.15% | 3,308 |
| 2 | Oregon | 3.40% | 54,660 |
| 3 | Montana | 3.20% | 5,332 |
| 4 | South Dakota | 2.95% | 4,176 |
| 5 | Vermont | 2.89% | 4,830 |
What This Means for Revenue Cycle Teams
The trends identified in OpenAI's report have direct implications for revenue cycle management:
- Rising patient expectations — Patients who use AI to understand their coverage will have more informed questions and higher expectations for billing accuracy and transparency
- Complexity management — With payer policies constantly changing across dozens of carriers, AI tools help teams stay current without manual research
- Appeals preparation — As patients become more sophisticated in challenging denials, providers need equally capable tools to manage the appeals process efficiently
- Staff efficiency — With 43% of healthcare administrators already using AI weekly, there's clear appetite for tools that reduce administrative burden
$25.7 billion — Amount healthcare providers spent contesting claim denials in 2023
23% increase — Year-over-year growth in denial contestation spending
US Healthcare System Sentiment
The report includes context on why Americans are turning to AI for healthcare navigation:
- 3 in 5 Americans say the current healthcare system is broken
- 87% say hospital costs are a serious problem
- 77% say poor healthcare access is a serious problem
- 75% say lack of nurses is a serious problem
- 70% believe the system has major problems or is in a state of crisis (Gallup)
- Healthcare quality views at 24-year low (Gallup)
- Americans give healthcare system C+ on access, D+ on costs (Gallup)
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Explore Payer Policy CopilotThe Bottom Line
OpenAI's January 2026 report confirms what many in healthcare have observed: AI adoption isn't a future trend—it's a present reality reshaping how patients and providers interact with the healthcare system.
Patients are using general-purpose AI to navigate a system that has long frustrated them. Providers who equip their teams with specialized AI tools—particularly for complex, time-consuming tasks like payer policy research and denial management—will be better positioned to maintain efficiency while meeting rising patient expectations.
The question for healthcare organizations isn't whether AI will impact their operations. It's whether they'll lead in adopting the right tools or work to catch up later.
OpenAI. 'AI as a Healthcare Ally: How Americans are navigating the system with ChatGPT.' January 2026. Read the full report →