From Forms to Conversations: How Patient Expectations Are Redefining Healthcare UX

Patient engagement is shifting from static forms to AI-powered conversations. Tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude have raised expectations, and healthcare must now deliver the same conversational, human-centered experience.

How is AI driving this change?

AI makes it possible to turn scattered inputs into structured, conversational experiences. Instead of a form asking “What are your symptoms?”, AI tools can guide patients through a dialogue that surfaces priorities, highlights changes, and generates a clear, visit-ready briefing. For clinicians, this means arriving with the right insights at hand. For patients, it means walking in confident and prepared.

Healthcare is entering a new era—one driven not by paperwork or portals, but by patient expectations shaped by AI. Tools like ChatGPT and Claude have shown people what it feels like to have an always-available assistant that listens, understands, and responds naturally. Patients now expect that same level of conversational support in healthcare.

At Lovable (fastest-scaling AI design startup to date), Growth Design leader Felix Haas has written about the evolution of UX: from click-driven interfaces, to touch-first design, and now to conversational, intent-driven experiences. AI is the force making this shift possible—turning static forms into interactive dialogues and helping users feel understood.

This shift is especially urgent in healthcare. Patients want to feel heard, understood, and empowered—not buried in paperwork, repeating the same details, or left scrambling during a rushed appointment. And clinicians want to walk in focused and ready to connect, not piecing together context under time pressure.

What is the problem with today’s pre-visit experience?

• 66% of patients forget the questions they meant to ask during visits.
• Clinicians often spend the first minutes of every appointment trying to reconstruct what has changed since the last visit.
• The result is a rushed and incomplete conversation that frustrates both patients and clinicians.

Click to read more about Visit-Ready Healthcare.

How can AI improve the pre-visit conversation?

AI can turn fragmented inputs into structured, conversational briefings—much like clinical pre-rounding, but designed for patients and their doctors. Instead of asking patients to fill out a static form, AI guides a natural dialogue that surfaces priorities, highlights changes, allows them to connect and share their own health data, and creates a visit-ready summary.

For patients, this means:

• Remembering their questions and concerns.
• Walking into the visit with confidence.

For clinicians, this means:

• Gaining relevant insights before the visit begins, similar to how pre-rounding helps a care team walk in aligned.
• Spending more time connecting with patients and less time piecing together context.

What is “Pre-Rounding for Patients”?

In hospitals, clinicians use pre-rounding to review key information before seeing patients. It ensures the care team walks in aligned, prepared, and focused on what matters most.

Alcott brings that same concept to everyday healthcare visits—for both sides of the conversation. Think of it as “pre-rounding for patients.”

• Patients arrive with a clear, AI-generated summary of their updates, concerns, and top questions.
• Clinicians receive a concise briefing that highlights trends, red flags, and changes since the last visit.

Result: no wasted minutes catching up, fewer forgotten questions, and a more productive visit that feels less rushed and more human.

Why is now the right time?

• AI maturity: Tools like ChatGPT and Claude show what conversational technology can deliver.
• Patient expectations: Digital-native patients expect healthcare to feel modern and intuitive.
• Clinician need: Burnout is at record highs, and clinicians need tools that save time and reduce cognitive load.

What’s Next? Something Big from Alcott!

At Alcott, we believe the future of healthcare starts before the visit even begins. That’s why we’re building technology that transforms pre-visit preparation into a guided, conversational experience—one that increases patient completion rates and gives clinicians the clarity they need.

Today, this looks like chat-based pre-visit conversations. Soon, it will extend into voice, making preparation as natural as saying, “Here’s what’s changed since last time.”

Something big is coming from Alcott—a new way to engage that puts patients and clinicians on the same page before they even meet. We’re leaning into conversation-first design, powered by AI.

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