But simply providing people with information is not enough. Knowledge is only the beginning. After all, patients may know their lab results or radiology findings, but that doesn’t mean they understand what the numbers mean or what steps to take next. People can turn to platforms like WebMD for general medical information, but those sites (and the advice they provide) aren’t personalized. Even a Google search, while slightly more tailorable and specific, bombards patients with conflicting information and “sponsored” links, leaving them unable to separate the signal from the noise.
What patients need is expertise. That’s what makes generative AI such a powerful and timely advancement. Tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude can analyze vast amounts of complex data — including a patient’s medical record, genetic profile and current symptoms — then translate that information into plain language. This combination of deep data analysis, personalization and elimination of medical jargon allows individuals to weigh options and make informed choices. And it provides patients with the kind of expertise once exclusive to a doctor’s visit.
I was honored to share that message at the 2025 Association Swiss Health Data Space Forum this week in Olten, Switzerland. The event brought together hundreds of visionaries working to reshape healthcare by giving people greater control over their own data.
I applaud those efforts. But as I told the audience, modern technology allows us to go further. By combining citizen-controlled data with the power of generative AI, clinicians can help patients do more than understand their care plans. They can help patients effectively control their chronic disease, address acute problems and take proactive steps to stay healthy.
The promise of generative AI is not about replacing doctors with technology. It’s about extending the reach of the medical profession. Health systems around the world — including those in affluent nations like Switzerland and the United States — are under intense pressure. Clinicians are overwhelmed, costs are rising and more patients are living with chronic diseases than ever before. In the future, the combination of dedicated clinicians, empowered patients and generative AI will unlock the full potential of medical data: achieving outcomes far greater than any one component could alone. Rather than eroding the doctor-patient relationship, GenAI will help strengthen it by enabling more informed, collaborative care.
If deployed thoughtfully, GenAI tools will help patients manage chronic conditions between visits, raise red flags when symptoms arise, and explain what to expect from a test or treatment. The timing couldn’t be better: Chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and heart failure and their complications (heart attacks, strokes, cancer and kidney failure) now account for a majority of healthcare spending and physician workload around the world. GenAI will be used to alert patients to early warning signs, flag necessary adjustments in medication and enable preventive care before emergencies arise. With clinician oversight and the right safeguards, GenAI will reduce costs, improve outcomes and alleviate the growing crisis of physician burnout.
But if clinicians fail to lead the process of generative AI implementation, they risk repeating the mistakes of the past. In the United States, for example, electronic health records (EHRs) were introduced with the promise of improved care coordination and easier access to information. Instead, they evolved into billing systems, designed more for reimbursement than for patient care. Two decades later, EHR interoperability remains limited, documentation demands are high, and record-maintaining tasks are among the top contributors to clinician burnout.
In Switzerland, a different but related challenge persists: patient data remains fragmented and siloed, limiting the value of digital health tools. The electronic patient dossier (EPD) initiative from the Association Swiss Health Data Space aims to change that. Designed to be comprehensive, interoperable and structured like aviation’s black box, this personal health record offers a model for patient-centered data use that promotes safety, transparency and continuous learning.
The audience left the forum energized by the possibilities. When patients gain full access to their medical data and can apply generative AI tools to improve their health, great clinical advancements become possible. The next challenge is turning these opportunities into medical realities.
Thank you to Ernst Hafen and the Association Swiss Health Data Space for the opportunity to participate. I look forward to learning from Switzerland’s success.
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