Anthropic launches Claude for Healthcare to take on ChatGPT Health: Details

Claude for Healthcare brings health-related tools to Anthropic's AI, aiming to simplify medical information for patients while supporting hospitals and insurers with routine tasks

Anthropic has introduced Claude for Healthcare, a new offering that enables healthcare providers and users to apply its Claude chatbot to medical-related tasks. Claude for Healthcare can explain test reports filled with medical jargon in simpler terms, and detect patterns across fitness and health metrics. It can also help users prepare questions to ask during a doctor’s appointment.

 

This move follows OpenAI introducing ChatGPT Health last week. For the unaware, ChatGPT Health is a dedicated health-focused experience within ChatGPT that combines personal health information with AI assistance. 

What is Claude for Healthcare

Claude for Healthcare is not a separate app, but a set of healthcare-focused features added to Claude. According to Anthropic, these allow the AI to securely access trusted medical and insurance databases and use that information to answer questions or help with routine healthcare tasks.

 

For hospitals and insurers, this means Claude can assist with things like checking whether a treatment is covered by insurance or preparing documents when a claim is rejected. For patients, it can help make sense of lab reports and medical history in simpler language. 

What it means for patients and everyday users

Claude for Healthcare also includes new health data connections for individual users, currently available in the US. Users who subscribe to Claude’s paid plans can choose to link their lab results or health records from services such as Apple Health or Android Health Connect.

 

Once connected, Claude can:

• Explain test results in plain, non-technical language
• Summarise a user’s medical history
• Spot trends in health or fitness data
• Help prepare questions for a doctor’s appointment

Anthropic says users stay in full control of their data. Access is optional, can be turned off at any time, and personal health information is not used to train Claude’s AI models.

How it helps doctors, hospitals, and insurers

Anthropic says Claude can help healthcare workers save time on administrative work, which often slows down patient care. For example, insurance approvals for procedures can take hours or even days because staff have to check multiple documents and policies.

 

With Claude for Healthcare, the AI can pull together coverage rules, medical guidelines, and patient information, and then summarise whether a request meets the required criteria. Human reviewers still make the final decision, but Claude is meant to speed up the process.

 

The tool can also help healthcare teams manage large volumes of patient messages by sorting them and highlighting urgent cases. 

How Claude for Healthcare fares against ChatGPT Health

Claude for Healthcare and ChatGPT Health are built on a similar premise: using AI to help people better understand medical information while stopping short of replacing doctors. Both Anthropic and OpenAI stress privacy protections and position their tools as support systems rather than diagnostic services. Each aims to make complex health data easier to navigate, whether for individuals or healthcare organisations.

 

Claude for Healthcare is largely designed for hospitals, insurers, and healthcare startups, helping them manage administrative and clinical workflows such as documentation, care coordination, and policy checks. Normal users can use it to make things easier too but they might not be the primary audience.

 

ChatGPT Health, on the other hand, is more consumer-oriented, offering a dedicated space where users can connect personal medical records and wellness apps to get clearer explanations, track trends, and prepare for doctor visits.