Stay up-to-date on the latest in health tech, digital health and health AI news with this weekly brief. This is news from the week of March 16-20.
Perplexity teams with b.well on AI-powered medical records search
Artificial intelligence search engine Perplexity is teaming up with b.well Connected Health to integrate consumer health data into the company's AI-powered search and answers engine.
Through the collaboration, users will be able to authorize Perplexity to access their health information through b.well's national health data network, enabling AI responses grounded in a person's real medical history rather than generic information, the companies said.
B.well operates a large health data network, enabling secure consumer-mediated access to health data across more than 2.4 million providers and more than 350 health plans, labs and other sources.
"Millions of people already turn to AI to ask health questions," said Kristen Valdes, founder and CEO of b.well Connected Health, in a statement. "By connecting Perplexity's powerful answer engine backed by citations, with b.well's trusted health data network, we can ensure those answers are grounded in a person's actual medical history, delivering guidance that is more relevant, more personalized, and more useful."
With the integration, Perplexity users can securely connect their medical records; ask questions and get results grounded in their own health history; better understand lab results, medications and conditions; and prepare for appointments and make more informed decisions, the company said.
Users must explicitly authorize access to their health records and can revoke permissions at any time.
The announcement builds on b.well's broader strategy to enable the next generation of AI-powered health assistants. The health tech company has inked partnerships to open up consumers' access to their health data, including a collaboration with Samsung Electronics. Through that partnership, Galaxy smartphone users can get digital access to their complete health history and also have the ability to share their medical record with participating providers via a QR code.
It also collaborates with OpenAI to power the health data connectivity infrastructure of ChatGPT Health, a new feature that connects its AI chatbot with users' medical records and wellness apps for more personalized answers to medical questions.
B.well also is part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Health Tech Ecosystem initiative.
Lumeris rolls out "Ask Tom," agentic analytics for primary care
A year ago, at the ViVE 2025 conference, value-based care company Lumeris rolled out new artificial intelligence technology for primary care doctors that produces personalized, next-best actions at both the patient and population levels.
Dubbed "Tom," and described as a primary-care-as-a-service solution embedded in clinical workflows, the tech is designed to extend the primary care team’s reach across patient management areas including prevention and wellness, care coordination, social determinants of health, population health and chronic disease management.
Lumeris is expanding on this AI capability with "Ask Tom," a new analytics feature powered by generative AI and large language models. Ask Tom aggregates clinical, claims and operational data into a unified view so health system leaders can pose complex questions in plain English and get immediate answers, visualizations and recommendations, the company said in a press release.
The launch of the new feature comes at a time of mounting strain in primary care. Nearly 100 million adults in the U.S. lack access to primary care, and the nation is projected to face a shortage of nearly 90,000 physicians over the next decade. At the same time, the country is undergoing a historic demographic shift. Soon there will be more Americans age 65 and older than under age 18. This aging population is accelerating the prevalence of chronic disease, cardiometabolic and renal conditions, cancer, neurocognitive disorders and behavioral health needs, increasing demand for coordinated, longitudinal care, according to the company.
“Health system leaders need timely insights they can trust,” David Carmouche, M.D., chief medical and commercial officer at Lumeris, said in a statement. “Too often, critical performance questions require multiple reports, technical resources and days of delay. Ask Tom changes that dynamic. Leaders can ask a question in plain language, understand trends across their organization and receive meaningful insights in seconds. That speed and clarity are essential as health care becomes more complex.”
Ask Tom pulls from integrated clinical, claims, pharmacy and social determinants data within the Tom platform and provides health system leaders and clinicians with a unified view of performance across clinical and operational domains. Users can maintain ongoing analytical conversations, explore trends over time and generate visualizations that help translate complex data into actionable insight.
The platform also features agentic capabilities that can continuously review enterprise data, detect anomalies or emerging trends and surface opportunities for improvement.
Ask Tom is currently available in limited preview, with broader availability planned for 2026.
How physicians are using AI in practice: Doximity study
Artificial intelligence adoption among physicians is accelerating rapidly, with 94% of physicians either using AI or interested in using it, a new Doximity survey found.
More than half of physicians are already using AI in practice, and one-third use it daily. Only 5% said they are not interested in using AI.
AI use rose from 47% of physicians in the April 2025 cohort to 63% in the January 2026 cohort, a 16-point increase. Among the 15 specialties studied, neurologists reported the highest AI adoption rate (64%), followed by gastroenterologists (61%) and internists (60%).
The Doximity report draws on survey responses from 3,151 U.S. physicians across 15 specialties collected during two study periods: March/April 2025 and November 2025/January 2026.
Physicians are adopting AI across a wide range of administrative and clinical tasks, with literature search as the most common use case (35% in the January 2026 cohort, up from 22% in April 2025). Voice-based documentation, including ambient listening and AI scribes, rose to 29% of physicians (up from 20%) over the study periods.
Beyond these leading applications, physicians are increasingly using AI for writing, research and administrative tasks, including drafting patient support letters and educational materials. Growth has also been notable in administrative-burden-related areas, with more physicians turning to AI for insurance correspondence, such as prior authorizations, and for summarizing lengthy patient records, according to the survey report.
Three-quarters (75%) of physician AI users reported that AI has already reduced administrative workload and improved job satisfaction. Two-thirds (69%) of physician AI users said the technology has contributed to improved patient care and outcomes.
The majority (90%) of all physicians surveyed said AI has the potential to reduce “pajama time," and nearly one-fourth (23%) say it already has.
But doctors continue to be cautious about AI tools, with 71% citing the accuracy and reliability of AI‑generated outputs as their top concern, according to the survey.
Other concerns include legal and regulatory uncertainty, ethical considerations, patient privacy and data security, unrealistic administrative expectations and administrative monitoring, the survey found.
“AI has quickly become a meaningful part of physicians’ daily workflows,” said Amit Phull, M.D., chief clinical experience officer at Doximity, in a statement. “Doctors see its potential to reduce administrative burden, improve job satisfaction, and expand time with patients. But the future of AI in medicine will depend on accuracy, transparency, and strong physician leadership. Real physician involvement in the development and deployment of AI will be key to unlocking its value in healthcare.”