Boston, MA — August 26, 2025 — Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has received an award from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to create an AI tool that improves patient access to, and understanding of, personalized medical information. The $1.5 million 4-year study is led by Sigall Bell, MD, Director of Patient Safety and Discovery at OpenNotes and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Adam Rodman, MD, MPH, Director of AI Programs at Harvard Medical School. The researchers will co-design and test, together with patients “HealthCoach,” a large language model (LLM)-driven chatbot available in English and Spanish.
“Research shows that when patients read their medical notes, they better understand their care, identify safety issues, and take a more active role in managing their health,” said Dr. Bell. “But many patients remain excluded due to language and literacy barriers. An AI tool can help close these gaps, if it is designed with patients to meet their specific needs.” The team envisions that HealthCoach will translate and simplify notes based on patient priorities. They will also embed a previously developed patient-clinician alignment tool called “OurDX” into the chatbot, to help patients prepare for their next primary care visit conversationally with HealthCoach.
About HealthCoach
HealthCoach will help patients of all literacy levels:
- Learn from their open medical notes
- Prepare for primary care visits
- Co-create a “pre-note” that reflects their values, priorities, and questions
By bringing patient perspectives and unique knowledge directly into the visit pre-note, HealthCoach aims to strengthen patient safety, engagement, and shared decision-making.
Study Highlights
- Co-design HealthCoach with diverse patient partners in two states
- Use de-identified patient notes and patient-clinician alignment tool data to iteratively refine the chatbot
- Develop novel patient-centered evaluation tools for AI-generated notes
- Test chatbot-generated notes in 2 languages using 10 domains (for example: accuracy, clarity, and usefulness), and both patient- and clinician-raters
- Conduct a live trial with English- and Spanish-preferring patients preparing for upcoming primary care visits
The project will produce freely available resources, including the HealthCoach chatbot and educational materials, to promote broad, equitable access to AI-enabled healthcare tools. More about this study can found on the NIH RePORTER website.
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About OpenNotes
Based at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, OpenNotes is an academic lab studying, spreading, and teaching transparent communication between patients, care partners, and clinicians. Evidence shows that when patients and care partners have access to clinical notes—known as “open notes”—the quality and safety of care improve. Learn more at opennotes.org.
About the National Library of Medicine
The National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the National Institutes of Health, is the world’s largest biomedical library. Since 1836, NLM has advanced biomedical discovery, health care, and public health by providing trusted health information resources and supporting innovation in medical research and practice.
Except where otherwise noted, the content by OpenNotes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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