Your patient probably used AI before they used your portal.

Patients are showing up to visits with AI-generated summaries, questions, and even self-diagnoses. Research showed that 42% of patients said they frequently or very frequently use AI-generated information to help them prepare for their appointments. [Source: Wolters Kluwer Health 2026 survey, reported by Fierce Healthcare.]

The Wolters Kluwer number is not an outlier. Gallup and West Health found that 59% of Americans who use AI for health information do it specifically to research before seeing a doctor — a habit that holds across age, from 69% of adults under 30 to 43% of adults over 65. [Source: Gallup/West Health, "Americans Turning to AI to Supplement Healthcare Visits," April 2026.]

It is becoming the default first step in how people relate to their own bodies. For many, it is also a confidence-builder: nearly half say it makes them feel more prepared to ask questions once they are in the room. Clinicians are noticing — more than half already say they review the material patients bring in rather than wave it away. None of this calls for uncritical enthusiasm; only 4% of AI health users say they strongly trust its accuracy. But it is a shift worth designing for, not resisting.

That is not a threat to manage. It is a habit to design around.

If we treat AI as a conversation starter instead of a disruption, we can use it to improve patient understanding, reduce misinformation, and make shared decision-making stronger.

The opportunity is not to replace clinical judgment. It is to meet patients where they already are — informed, anxious, and looking for clarity.

The clinicians who adapt well will not just answer questions. They will guide better conversations.