Dive Brief:
- Oracle will roll out new artificial intelligence functionality to its patient portal, allowing patients to chat with AI and ask questions about their medical records, the technology giant said Wednesday.
- Users can ask for plain-language explanations of diagnoses or lab results, as well as prepare for upcoming doctor visits, draft messages to providers or schedule follow-up appointments, Oracle said in a press release.
- The AI-backed portal is planned for general availability next year. The rollout comes as Oracle is doubling down on AI in healthcare, launching a new electronic health record embedded with the technology last month.
Dive Insight:
The new portal is built using foundation models from OpenAI, the maker of popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, Oracle said in a press release.
The tool could be used to describe medical jargon, like explaining what “hypertensive heart disease” means or what a lab value signifies, the tech giant said. Patients could also use the product to discuss next steps ahead of a doctor's appointment.
For example, a patient could query the chatbot on how their cholesterol levels compared to previous tests and how close the results are to healthy ranges, Mike Sicilia, president at Oracle Industries, said during the Oracle Health and Life Sciences Summit on Wednesday.
However, the AI-backed portal won’t generate diagnosis, medications or treatment recommendations, Oracle said. That serves as a key safety guardrail, Sicilia said. AI oversight and accuracy are major concerns for experts who worry about the impact of misleading, incorrect or biased responses in healthcare delivery.
For example, Sicilia noted the product wouldn’t respond to a request about whether a patient should change medications, saying only a doctor could make that decision.
Providers also can decide what information is shared with patients. They can choose what data sources are used, and decide if they want to limit the capability to a certain set of conditions, an Oracle spokesperson told Healthcare Dive.
“We have control over how much medical information, how much advice can be shared with patients at any given time,” Sicilia said during the presentation. “Providers have complete control over this.”
The AI-backed patient portal comes as Oracle, which closed its acquisition of medical record vendor Cerner three years ago, is touting its AI as a key differentiator in the EHR market — where it faces significant competition from rival EHR vendor Epic.
Last month, Oracle released its new health record system for ambulatory providers in the U.S., adding that it would launch functionality for acute care in 2026. The company also rolled out an AI clinical assistant last year, and this week announced new capabilities for healthcare supply chain management.
Oracle argues its approach to AI integration is superior to its competitors. During a presentation at the summit Wednesday, Seema Verma, general manager of Oracle Health and Life Sciences, said AI is built throughout the system, “like having GPS built into your car versus that older device that used to clip on your dashboard.”
“This is not a bolt-on to older Cerner technology,” she said. “Our competitors are taking that approach, and that's an epic mistake.”
