The news: Microsoft launched Copilot Health, a dedicated AI-driven chatbot and portal where users can integrate medical records, connect to wearable data, and get personalized insights.

• Users can sync their health records and data via HealthEx across its more than 50,000 hospitals and provider groups. Copilot Health will also connect user data from Apple Health, Oura, Fitbit, and lab provider Function Health.
• Microsoft is partnering with Harvard Health and Wolters Kluwer’s UpToDate for clinical expertise to inform responses and recommendations.

Why it matters: Copilot Health joins a growing wave of AI platforms adding health-focused chat capabilities as more consumers turn to AI for health insights and become more comfortable sharing personal data.

• Open AI announced ChatGPT Health in January, allowing users to upload medical records and sync health app data.
• Amazon One Medical launched Health AI the same month to answer health questions, book appointments, and manage medications.

Microsoft’s AI tools, including Copilot and Bing, now handle more than 50 million health questions daily. On Copilot, 41% of conversations involved general health information, while 11% focused on symptom questions, 9% on fitness coaching, and 8% on health condition information and care questions, per analysis of Copilot health and wellness conversations in January.

Nearly 1 in 5 Copilot health conversations involve consumers sharing personal data like describing symptoms or interpreting test results.

Implications for healthcare providers and pharma companies: As AI platforms become more embedded in consumer health journeys, healthcare companies will need to adjust.

Providers should ensure their information and services can connect to and be surfaced through AI platforms. For pharma companies, even small shifts from search to AI-based health conversations could change how patients discover and evaluate treatments, requiring updates to digital marketing and patient education strategies.

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