Get the latest news in health technology, digital health and health AI with this weekly overview. News for the week from March 16th to 20th.
Perplexity team collaborates with b.well on AI-powered medical records search
Artificial intelligence search engine Perplexity has partnered with b.well Connected Health to integrate consumer health data into its AI-powered search and answer engine.
The partnership will allow users to authorize Perplexity to access their health information through b.well’s National Health Data Network, enabling AI responses based on a person’s actual medical history, rather than general information, the companies said.
B.well operates a large healthcare data network, enabling secure consumer-mediated access to healthcare data across more than 2.4 million providers and 350 health plans, laboratories and other sources.
“Millions of people already rely on AI to ask their health questions,” Kristen Valdez, founder and CEO of b.well Connected Health, said in a statement. “By connecting Perplexity’s powerful citation-backed answer engine with b.well’s trusted health data network, we can ensure those answers are based on a person’s actual medical history, providing more relevant, more personalized, and more useful guidance.”
This integration allows Perplexity users to securely connect their medical records. Ask questions and get results based on your own health history. Better understand test results, medications, and conditions. You can then prepare for your appointment and make more informed decisions, the company said.
Users must explicitly authorize access to their health records and may revoke their authorization at any time.
This announcement builds on b.well’s broader strategy to enable the next generation of AI-powered medical assistants. The health tech company has partnerships to give consumers access to their health data, including one with Samsung Electronics. Through this partnership, Galaxy smartphone users will have digital access to their complete health history and will also be able to share their medical records with participating providers via QR code.
We will also work with OpenAI to power ChatGPT Health’s health data connectivity infrastructure. This is a new feature that connects AI chatbots with users’ medical records and wellness apps to provide more personalized answers to medical questions.
B.well is also participating in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Health Tech Ecosystem initiative.
Lumeris rolls out “Ask Tom” agent analytics for primary care
A year ago at the ViVE 2025 conference, value-based care company Lumeris announced new artificial intelligence technology for primary care physicians that creates personalized next-best actions at both the patient and population level.
The technology, called “Tom,” is described as a primary care-as-a-service solution embedded in clinical workflows and designed to extend the reach of primary care teams across patient management areas, including prevention and wellness, care coordination, social determinants of health, population health, and chronic disease management.
Lumeris is extending this AI capability with Ask Tom, a new analytics capability that leverages generative AI and large-scale language models. Ask Tom aggregates clinical, claims and operational data into a unified view so health system leaders can ask complex questions in plain English and get instant answers, visualizations and recommendations, the company said in a press release.
The introduction of this new feature comes at a time of increasing burden on primary care. Nearly 100 million adults in the United States lack access to primary care, and the United States is projected to face a shortage of nearly 90,000 physicians over the next 10 years. At the same time, the country is experiencing historic demographic changes. There will soon be more people over 65 in the United States than under 18. This aging population is accelerating the prevalence of chronic diseases, cardiometabolic and renal conditions, cancer, neurocognitive disorders, and behavioral health needs, increasing the demand for coordinated long-term care.
“Health system leaders need timely insights they can trust,” said Dr. David Carmouche, chief medical and commercial officer at Lumeris, in a statement. “Critical performance issues often require multiple reports, technical resources, and delays of days. Asking Tom changes that game. Leaders can ask questions in plain language, understand trends across the organization, and gain meaningful insights in seconds. As healthcare becomes more complex, that speed and clarity is essential.”
Ask Tom captures integrated clinical, claims, pharmacy, and social determinants data within the Tom platform to provide health system leaders and clinicians with a unified view of performance across clinical and operational domains. Users can generate visualizations that help maintain ongoing analytical conversations, explore trends over time, and transform complex data into actionable insights.
The platform also has agent capabilities that continuously review company data, detecting anomalies and emerging trends, and uncovering opportunities for improvement.
Ask Tom is currently available in limited preview, but is expected to become more broadly available in 2026.
How doctors use AI in practice: The Doximity study
The adoption of artificial intelligence among physicians is rapidly accelerating, with 94% of physicians using or interested in using AI, a new Doximity survey reveals.
More than half of physicians already use AI in their practice, and one-third use it every day. Only 5% said they were not interested in using AI.
AI usage increased from 47% of physicians in the April 2025 cohort to 63% in the January 2026 cohort, an increase of 16 percentage points. Of the 15 specialties surveyed, neurologists had the highest rate of AI adoption (64%), followed by gastroenterologists (61%) and internal medicine (60%).
The Doximity report is based 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 implementing AI across a wide range of administrative and clinical tasks, with literature search being the most common use case (35% in January 2026 cohort, up from 22% in April 2025). Physicians using voice-based documentation, such as listening to ambient sounds or using AI scribes, increased to 29% (up from 20%) during the study period.
Beyond these core applications, physicians are increasingly using AI for writing, research, and administrative tasks such as drafting patient support letters and educational materials. According to the report, more doctors are using AI to handle insurance matters such as pre-approvals and summarize long patient records, and growth is also noticeable in areas related to administrative burdens.
Three-quarters (75%) of physician AI users report that AI has already reduced administrative tasks and increased job satisfaction. Two-thirds (69%) of physician AI users say the technology helps improve patient care and outcomes.
The majority (90%) of all physicians surveyed said AI has the potential to reduce “pajama time,” and nearly a quarter (23%) said they were already doing so.
However, research shows that physicians remain wary of AI tools, with 71% citing the accuracy and reliability of AI-generated output as their top concern.
Other concerns, according to the survey, include regulatory uncertainty, ethical considerations, patient privacy and data security, and unrealistic government expectations and government oversight.
“AI has quickly become a meaningful part of physicians’ daily workflow,” Amit Puru, MD, Doximity’s chief clinical experience officer, said in a statement. “Physicians are seeing the potential of AI to reduce administrative burden, increase job satisfaction, and increase patient time. But the future of AI in healthcare depends on accuracy, transparency, and strong physician leadership. Practical physician involvement in the development and deployment of AI will be key to unlocking the value of AI in healthcare.”
