Imagine finding yourself in a situation where you desperately need a doctor, but every practice you call tells you to wait—not just a few weeks, but a year or even two. This is the harsh reality for many Americans today, and it’s only getting worse. Meet Tammy MacDonald, a director at Blue Hills Adult Education in Dedham, Massachusetts, who faced this exact nightmare when her primary care doctor passed away suddenly. Despite living in a region renowned for its medical care, Tammy was turned away by ten practices, leaving her among the roughly 17% of adults in America without a primary care physician. But here’s where it gets controversial: her solution wasn’t a traditional doctor’s office—it was an AI-powered app. Could your next primary care doctor be online only, accessed through an AI tool? Let’s dive in.
Tammy’s story isn’t unique. She needed urgent refills for her blood pressure medication and a follow-up after a breast cancer scare. Yet, despite having private insurance, she was met with waitlists stretching into years. Frustrated and desperate, she turned to Mass General Brigham’s (MGB) new AI-supported program, Care Connect. After a 10-minute chat with an AI agent, she was connected to a doctor via video within days—a stark contrast to the two-year wait she’d been quoted elsewhere. But is this the future of healthcare, or just a temporary fix?
Care Connect is designed to handle common medical issues like colds, rashes, and even mild mental health concerns. It’s available 24/7, staffed by remote physicians who work alongside AI to provide diagnoses and treatment plans. Proponents argue it’s a lifeline for those with no other options, while critics worry it’s a ‘band-aid’ for a broken system. And this is the part most people miss: AI tools like these can’t assess a patient’s ability to afford follow-up care, understand family dynamics, or build the long-term relationships that primary care physicians are known for.
The shortage of primary care providers is a national crisis, but Massachusetts is feeling it acutely. The state’s primary care workforce is shrinking faster than most, leaving patients like Tammy in the lurch. MGB’s $400 million pledge to primary care services includes Care Connect, but some doctors argue the money should go toward higher salaries and better support for in-person care. Is AI a bridge to better care, or a distraction from the real issues?
Dr. Madhuri Rao, a primary care physician at MGB, is skeptical. She’s part of an effort to unionize primary care doctors and believes the system prioritizes specialties over primary care. Meanwhile, Dr. Steven Lin, chief of primary care at Stanford, cautions that AI is best suited for urgent, not ongoing, health issues. For patients with chronic conditions, nothing replaces a human doctor who knows you personally.
Yet, for Tammy, Care Connect has been a lifeline. ‘This is a logical solution in the short term,’ she says. ‘At the end of the day, it’s the patient who’s feeling the aftermath of all the bigger things going on in healthcare.’
As MGB plans to expand Care Connect to all Massachusetts and New Hampshire residents with insurance, the debate rages on. Is AI the answer to the primary care crisis, or just a stopgap? And what does this mean for the future of doctor-patient relationships? We want to hear from you—do you think AI can truly replace in-person care, or is it a risky gamble? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
