OpenAI claims that ChatGPT’s health advice is better than doctors’.

OpenAI claims that its improved GPT-5.5 Instant model produces better health information than physicians and reduces misinformation by 71%. According to the company, its ChatGPT model performed better than physicians in five different evaluation metrics (including accuracy, clarity, and comprehensiveness) and reduced health misinformation by 71% over the last two months.

The model achieved an 89.9% score on the instruction following test and was evaluated using HealthBench and HealthBench Professional, two evaluation suites created by OpenAI. More than 260 physicians from 60 countries helped review around 700,000 responses generated by the model. According to OpenAI, GPT-5.5 Instant performs on par with its ‘Thinking’ models but remains accessible to free users with some restrictions. Additionally, the company launched ChatGPT for Clinicians and introduced an OpenAI for Healthcare course — clearly trying to get a piece of the clinical workflow pie beyond the consumer chat space.

1Why this matters — and the catch

More than 230 million people are asking ChatGPT health questions each week. They’re using it to interpret their lab work, prepare for visits, understand insurance policies, etc. Any reduction in misinformation is tangible for many anxious individuals late at night. Still, these numbers are all self-reported by OpenAI on their own evaluation suite. “Better than doctors” in a scored evaluation isn’t equivalent to having a real doctor who can physically assess you, run tests, and be held liable if they’re wrong.

When used correctly, it’s an excellent tool as a secondary opinion. It can help you decipher complicated medical terminology and jot down pertinent questions before seeing a doctor. When used incorrectly, it can persuade you not to visit the doctor at all. It doesn’t know your medical background, can’t physically examine you, and won’t check back in next week if things change.

I use it to break down medical jargon before my appointments, which has prevented a few bewildered phone calls. However, I’ve never used it instead of seeing a doctor — and you shouldn’t either, especially when it comes to your health.