Off Script
What patients will hand to AI support and where they draw the line
IntroductionHealthtech's front door is now AI
Healthtechs compete on speed and convenience. Telehealth, virtual care and online pharmacy companies promise care without the waiting room, and AI support is how many of them answer the questions that come with it: booking, billing, account changes and refills.
To see what people will accept from that AI, we surveyed over 2,000 people across the US, UK and Australia. We asked how acceptable AI help would be for five health support tasks, how access to a person changes that, and what would most increase their willingness to use AI in health support.
Most people are comfortable using AI for routine health tasks, and two in three accept it for symptom and test-result questions. Prescription refills are where they hesitate. People want a person within reach, even when the AI answers instantly. And the strongest reassurance is an AI that is accurate and clear about its limits.
82%
accept AI help with appointment scheduling. When it comes to prescription refills, acceptance drops to 44%
79%
accept an instant AI answer when they also have the option to reach a person. Without a person available, it drops to 58%
26%
chose accuracy with clear communication about AI support’s limits as the thing that would most increase their willingness to use AI
What's new
This is Lorikeet's fourth consumer study in 2026, and the first about health AI support.
Key takeawaysSix numbers that matter
01
82%
accept AI help with appointment scheduling. When it comes to prescription refills, acceptance drops to 44%
02
2 in 3
accept AI help with non-diagnostic symptom questions or test results, both close to clinical care
03
79%
accept an instant AI answer when they also have the option to reach a person. Without a person available, it drops to 58%
04
26%
chose accuracy with clear communication about AI support’s limits as the thing that would most increase their willingness to use AI. Being told they were talking to AI was the least popular option, at 9%
05
51%
went straight to a healthcare professional when an AI didn't fully answer their health question
06
2.2x
as likely to report using AI health support, among people who used telehealth in the past year, compared with those who didn't
Finding 01Medication is where people draw the line
accept AI help with appointment scheduling. For prescription refills it's 44%
Illustrative
A GLP-1 member messages their clinic twice in one week. First to move a check-in, then to ask for their next refill. To the clinic, both are admin. Most members are happy for AI to handle the first. Far fewer are sure about the second.
82.0% of people accept AI help with appointment scheduling and 69.5% with billing. For prescription refills the figure is 44.2%, with 42.1% calling it unacceptable. The question was clear the AI would not decide whether a medication was appropriate.
Non-diagnostic symptom support sits at 67.4% and help with test results at 66.5%. Both are close to clinical care, and both score more than 20 points above refills.
People accept AI for most health tasks. Refills are the exception.
Share who say AI help is acceptable, by task.
Our interpretation: people are most cautious when AI touches their medication.
Finding 02Honesty about limits builds more trust than an AI disclosure
chose evidence of accuracy, with clear communication about its limits
Illustrative
A member asks whether a side effect is normal. The reply that builds trust says what it can tell them, what it can't, and how to reach their clinician now.
Asked to pick the one thing that would most increase their willingness to use AI in health support, the top answer was evidence of accuracy with clear communication about its limits (26.3%).
Being told they were talking to AI was the least popular of the five named options, picked by 9.2%.
What would most increase your willingness to use AI in health support? (choose one)
Other answers: 8.9%.
Finding 03People want a person within reach
accept an instant AI answer when they can also reach a person. Without that option it's 58%
Illustrative
A patient asks in their portal whether a prescription has shipped and gets an answer from AI in seconds. Right under it is a clear way to reach a person.
Two of the top three things that would most increase people's willingness to use AI in health support involve a person: an easy way to reach one (20.5%) and a clinician reviewing the response (18.7%). Together, 39.2% picked one of the two.
We saw the same thing in a described scenario. A patient asks a simple question in their portal and gets an instant AI answer. 58.2% found that acceptable. For a second group, the patient could also reach a person, and acceptance rose to 79.2%. The answer and the speed were the same. The only change was a visible route to a human.
A visible route to a person lifts acceptance of an instant AI answer
A simple, nonclinical question in a patient portal. Two randomly split groups.
Finding 04Ineffective AI adds to the load on clinical teams, whether the issue is clinical or not
went first to a healthcare professional when AI didn't fully answer their question
Illustrative
A question about a delivery date or a bill that the AI can't close often ends up as a portal message to a clinician, the most expensive place for it to land.
51.1% of people whose AI health-support interaction left a question unresolved went first to a healthcare professional, by phone or patient portal. 15.2% tried another AI tool, website or digital service. 11.4% had a telehealth or in-person visit.
When an AI suggested a next step, 31.5% checked it with a clinician or healthcare professional before acting on it.
First step after an AI interaction that left a question unresolved
Both questions covered any AI health support, including tools people use on their own, so they don't isolate AI a provider deployed. Smaller bases (395 and 492).
Finding 05Telehealth users are already on board
as likely to report using AI health support, among people who used telehealth in the past year
People who used telehealth in the past year were 2.2 times as likely to report using AI health support: 62.7%, against 28.6% of people who had not used telehealth.
This is the one result specific to digital health users.
A correlation between two self-reported measures.
In practiceWhat this looks like at a healthtech
The data describes what people will accept. Here is what happens when a healthtech deploys AI support.
What it meansWhat healthtech leaders should do now
What good AI health support looks like
It handles the work people already accept from AI: scheduling, billing and account questions. It takes the most care with anything that touches medication. It says what it can't do and where to go next. And a person on the care or support team is always within reach, with an easy way to get there.
01
Start with scheduling, billing and account questions
82.0% accept AI for scheduling and 69.5% for billing. This is the admin volume that fills a healthtech support queue.
02
Treat medication with the most care
Refills divide people (44.2% accept, 42.1% don't), even when the AI makes no clinical call. Symptom and test-result help both score above 66%. Say exactly what the AI does, and route anything clinical to a person.
03
Have the AI say what it can't do
Accuracy with clear communication about limits was the top reassurance (26.3%). Being told they were talking to AI was the least popular of the five named options (9.2%).
04
Keep a person within reach from the first reply
A visible route to a person lifted acceptance of an instant AI answer from 58.2% to 79.2%. 39.2% picked a person, to reach or to review the answer, as the thing that would most increase their willingness to use AI.
05
Close questions before they reach a clinician
When AI left a question unresolved, 51.1% went straight to a healthcare professional. Clear limits and a fast handoff keep that work with the support team.
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