How We Built an AI Medical Assistant with ChatGPT (and Why Every Complex Care Family Should Too)

Written by Amber Bobnar

Published on May 2, 2025

A step-by-step guide for parents to turn medical records into insight, clarity, and confidence using ChatGPT.

As a parent to a medically complex child, I’ve spent countless hours trying to piece together a coherent understanding of my son Ivan’s health. Ivan has multiple diagnoses (Joubert Syndrome, Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, severe refractory epilepsy, low bone density, chronic kidney disease, and more). Each of his conditions is overseen by different specialists, and no one seems to connect the dots. Like many families in our situation, I find myself in the role of medical coordinator, advocate, and researcher, but with limited tools.

That changed when I created a project using ChatGPT to analyze and interpret Ivan’s medical records. This article walks you through exactly how I did it, what I learned, and how you can do the same.

If you don’t need the step-by-step directions on how to set up your AI medical assistant, jump here to find out the best way to use it.

Step 1: Request Your Child’s Full Medical Records

Before anything else, you’ll need to request a complete copy of your child’s medical records. This includes clinic notes, lab results, imaging reports, and discharge summaries. Be prepared, as the file may be lengthy and a cost may be involved, depending on your hospital. However, having everything in one place is essential.

Helpful tips:

• Request both digital (PDF) and printed versions if available.
• Be sure to ask for “all records from birth to present,” including specialist visits and inpatient stays.
• You have a legal right to these records under HIPAA.

Step 2: Decide on Your Approach: Custom GPT vs. Project

ChatGPT offers two main ways to build a tool tailored to your child’s medical needs:

Option 1: Create a Custom GPT

A Custom GPT allows you to train a chatbot with instructions about your child’s history, personality, and needs. You can upload files and define how the chatbot should behave.

Option 2: Use the ChatGPT “Projects” Feature

This is what I ultimately chose. Projects allow you to upload multiple files (again, up to 20 per project), view and reuse past conversations, and collaborate across multiple threads of inquiry. I was also unhappy with the custom GPT’s inability to create graphs or generate downloadable files.

Important Note: You do need a paid ChatGPT Plus account (currently $20/month) to access both Custom GPTs and Projects. Free-tier users do not have access to these features.

Step 3: Organize and Upload Medical Records

I took Ivan’s hundreds of pages of records and used a PDF editor to combine them into larger sections (for example: “Nephrology 2019–2024” or “Lab Results Summary”). This allowed me to stay under the 20-file limit while still uploading all relevant files.

Helpful Tips:

• Name each file clearly (“EEG Reports 2021–2023.pdf”)
• Make sure the text in your PDF documents is selectable/copyable (If it’s scanned images, use OCR software like Adobe Acrobat Pro or online tools like ocr.space)
• You can also upload care plans, IEP summaries, or letters from specialists for a fuller picture of your child’s needs
• Keep backup copies outside of ChatGPT
• Keep a folder of “uploaded to GPT” vs “not yet uploaded” files to stay organized
• You may want to remove information like full addresses, phone numbers, or clinician names if you plan to share with collaborators

Step 4: Update as New Records Come In

Once your project is set up, don’t let it sit stagnant. Medical records are a living document of your child’s health journey. Every new test, diagnosis, hospitalization, or specialist note can add important context and insight. Updating your ChatGPT project regularly ensures that your understanding evolves alongside your child’s care.

Because you are limited to 20 files per project, you’ll want to be strategic:

• Replace outdated files: If you’ve received a new round of lab results, you can delete the old lab file and upload the new one. Be sure that your new files include all historical data, though, so you can graph trends.
• Merge files before uploading: Use a PDF tool to combine related documents (e.g., all 2024 orthopedic notes) into a single file.
• Label your files clearly: This helps both you and ChatGPT keep track of what’s current.

Your AI Medical Assistant: 9 Real Ways to Use This Tool

Once your documents are uploaded, the project becomes an incredibly useful tool for understanding and organizing your child’s care. You can ask ChatGPT to pull insights from multiple specialties, helping you spot patterns that may have gone unnoticed. A great starting point is to explore your child’s history by summarizing records or digging into specific issues. This gives you a better grasp on the whole picture, allowing you to speak with more confidence during appointments and care planning meetings.

One of the first tasks I assigned ChatGPT was to help me prepare for an upcoming urology appointment. I told ChatGPT to review Ivan’s history and generate a list of questions and concerns to bring to the doctor. What we ended up with was a one-page handout that was so complete the urologist said we had already answered all her initial questions before the visit even began. It changed the entire tone of the appointment, from reactive to proactive.

Here are just a few other ways you can use this tool:

1. Summarize Records

When your child’s medical records span hundreds of pages, it can be hard to find key points or even remember what happened last year. ChatGPT can quickly pull together summaries of appointments, hospitalizations, or test results, giving you quick overviews when you need them most. These summaries are especially helpful when preparing for new specialist visits, applying for services, or writing medical histories for schools or agencies.

Try prompts like:

• Summarize my child’s GI history in simple language.
• Give me a 1-paragraph summary of my child’s hospitalizations in 2021.
• Summarize all neurology visits between 2019 and 2023.
• What treatments were discussed in visits related to bone health?
• What trends are there in seizure frequency over time?

2. Track Medications & Diagnoses

Keeping track of diagnoses and medications, especially as they change over time, can be overwhelming. ChatGPT can help you extract and organize this information across all records, which is particularly helpful for preparing medication lists, completing intake forms, or identifying when a condition was first diagnosed. It can also help you visualize how symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments relate to each other.

Try prompts like:

• List all the medications my child has been prescribed.
• What medications were used to treat his seizures?
• Which medications were stopped due to side effects?
• Which doctors noted concerns about kidney function?
• When was my child diagnosed with low bone density?
• Please graph labs related to kidney health and bone density tests so we can see if there is a correlation between the two.

3. Organize by Specialty

Medical records are often organized chronologically, but your child’s care typically involves multiple specialists working in parallel. ChatGPT can help re-sort the information based on specialty or area of care so you can focus on what matters most for an upcoming visit or review a specific area like orthopedics or endocrinology more deeply.

Try prompts like:

• Summarize my child’s orthopedic records.
• List all imaging done by the GI team.
• Group my child’s records by specialist (e.g., neurology, nephrology, GI).
• Which specialties are involved in my child’s care?
• Are we missing any follow-ups with a specialist?

4. Prepare for Appointments

This is one of the most powerful uses of the project. ChatGPT can help you build appointment prep lists tailored to each specialty, highlighting questions to ask, follow-up items, and what to bring. You can even use it to prepare summaries or handouts to bring to the doctor—many providers appreciate how much more efficient this makes the visit.

Try prompts like:

• What should I bring up at my child’s upcoming cardiology appointment?
• Help me write a list of questions for the neurology team based on his recent EEG results.
• What changes in labs might be important to mention at the next nephrology appointment?
• What labs or scans have been recommended in the past but not completed?
• Are we missing any vital tests or imaging that we should request at this appointment?

5. Generate Supporting Materials

This is probably my favorite use for this tool. If you’ve ever needed to write a letter of medical necessity, explain your child’s needs for housing or nursing care, or advocate for accommodations, you know how challenging it can be. ChatGPT can help you draft persuasive, compassionate, and well-documented letters, complete with references to your child’s medical records when needed.

Try prompts like:

• Write a letter of medical necessity for a home lift system.
• Draft a variance request for home modifications based on my child’s needs.
• Help me list supporting medical reasons for getting overnight nursing coverage.
• Help me explain why our child needs a second wheelchair for school use.
• Draft a support letter for a Medicaid waiver application.
• Write a justification for more frequent physical therapy visits.

6. Communicate with Schools or Agencies

Many families are asked to provide medical summaries for schools, adult service agencies, or caregivers, but rewriting that information over and over can be exhausting. ChatGPT can help you generate tailored documents for different audiences, saving you time while ensuring accuracy and consistency.

Try prompts like:

• Write a summary of my child’s medical needs for a new school nurse.
• Draft a letter explaining my child’s seizure protocol for adult services.
• Create a one-page summary of my child’s disabilities for a new caregiver.
• Write a summary of my child’s feeding protocol for a new teacher.
• Explain my child’s medical needs to a respite agency in under 250 words.

7. Build a Timeline or Tracker

Visualizing your child’s medical history helps with advocacy, planning, and understanding progress (or regression). ChatGPT can create timelines or track key events like surgeries, symptom flare-ups, or lab changes. This is especially helpful for seeing patterns over time or preparing reports for long-term care planning. ChatGPT projects also retain the ability to create colorful charts or graphs that are easy to read.

Try prompts like:

• Make a timeline of my child’s seizures since 2015.
• Track changes in his kidney function by lab results.
• List all surgical procedures and their dates.
• Create a list of hospital stays and their durations.
• Track the progression of scoliosis measurements over time.

8. Reduce Overwhelm

Medical records are often repetitive, contradictory, or just plain confusing. ChatGPT can act as a filter when you’re feeling overwhelmed, pulling out only the most important information and helping you focus on what truly matters. It’s like having a calm assistant when everything feels chaotic.

Try prompts like:

• Can you list the five most important takeaways from my child’s 2023 medical visits?
• Which specialists do I need to follow up with based on our recently uploaded notes?
• What were the last three things said about my child’s heart condition?
• Can you simplify the key points from my child’s last 10 appointments?

9. Advocate For Your Child

Whether you’re introducing your child to a new care coordinator or advocating for services, ChatGPT can help you speak clearly and confidently about your child’s needs. It can also help you prepare emotionally by putting your thoughts into words that reflect your child’s full story, not just a diagnosis.

Try prompts like:

• How can I explain my child’s medical complexity in 3 sentences?
• Write a compassionate letter to our new DDS coordinator introducing my child.
• Help me prepare a short advocacy statement for a transition planning meeting.
• Compose an email to a state agency requesting urgent case review.

Final tip: Your new AI medical assistant is very smart. If you’re not sure where to begin or what to ask it to do, ask for suggestions! You may be surprised to see what it comes up with.

What About HIPAA and Privacy?

Privacy is an important consideration when working with your child’s medical records. While OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, states that content from paid ChatGPT accounts is not used to train their models, and user data is subject to stricter privacy protections, it’s still wise to proceed thoughtfully. Conversations are stored on OpenAI’s servers and may be reviewed for abuse monitoring purposes, though this review is limited and anonymized.

If you prefer to avoid saved chat history, you might consider using the Custom GPT feature, which does not retain past conversations between sessions.

Here are some best practices to protect your family’s privacy:

• Use a paid ChatGPT Plus account, which includes enhanced privacy protections.
• Avoid entering identifying details like full names, addresses, or insurance numbers.
• Use initials or general descriptors instead of personal identifiers.
• Keep original medical files stored on your own device or a secure, encrypted cloud service.
• Only upload records that you are comfortable storing online. Remember, this is still a cloud-based tool.

OpenAI takes user privacy seriously, but it’s always wise to be cautious when handling sensitive health information. If you have any doubts, consult your child’s care team or review OpenAI’s privacy policy before getting started.

Final Thoughts

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your child’s medical complexity, you’re not alone. Specialists mean well, but their focus is narrow, and they often don’t have time to explain things in a way that families can understand. Creating this ChatGPT project gave us clarity, confidence, and connection.

It’s not a replacement for medical care, but it is an incredible tool for making sense of the care your child is already receiving.

If you’ve ever wished you had a guide to help you navigate the maze of medical language and overlapping conditions… this might just be it.