How to Use AI to Understand Your Medical Results
Does your heart sink a little when you open your online patient portal and see a list of medical terms you can't pronounce? It’s frustrating to wait days for a callback from the doctor’s office just to find out if your "creatinine" levels are normal.
Claude is the perfect digital companion to help you translate that "medical-speak" into clear, everyday language. Think of it like having a medical dictionary that talks back to you and explains things in a way that actually makes sense.
Imagine Sarah, who received a 5-page report after her heart scan. She was worried about phrases like "mild cardiomegaly." She asked Claude to explain it, and Claude told her it simply meant her heart was slightly enlarged and gave her three specific questions to ask her doctor at her next visit.
Step 1: Access Your Medical Portal
Most doctors now use "patient portals" like MyChart or AthenaHealth to share results. This is where your lab work and notes live online.
Open your browser and log into your doctor's portal using your username and password. Find the section labeled "Test Results" or "Health Records." Once you find the report you want to understand, highlight the text with your mouse, right-click, and select "Copy."
Step 2: Paste the Notes into Claude
Now, you're going to bring that information to your digital friend for a translation. It’s like bringing a confusing letter over to a neighbor’s house to look at together.
Go to Claude.ai and look for the chat box at the bottom. Right-click inside that box and select "Paste." You will see all those confusing medical words appear in the box, ready for Claude to read.
Step 3: Use a "Plain English" Recipe
In AI for Boomers, we call your instructions a "recipe." To get the best health explanation, you need to tell Claude exactly how you want it to speak.
Type this sentence after your pasted notes: "Please explain these medical results to me in plain English like we are having coffee. What are the three most important things I should discuss with my doctor?" Press the enter key and wait about 20 seconds for your simple summary to appear.
Step 4: Ask for Clarification
If Claude uses a word you still don't recognize, don't be shy! One of the best things about AI is that it never gets tired of explaining things.
Simply type, "I don't understand what 'biomarker' means in this context. Can you use an analogy?" Claude might compare it to a "check engine light" for your body. This back-and-forth conversation helps the information really stick so you feel prepared for your next appointment.
This entire process takes about 10 minutes and transforms a stressful situation into a learning opportunity. You've got this!
Try this next time you get a routine blood work report back from your annual physical.