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ATLANTA, Aug. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sharecare today announced that AskMD, its AI-powered health navigation experience grounded in each individual’s medical history, health plan, and location, is now available nationwide. Designed to turn a person’s health question into a clear next step, AskMD is free on the App Store, Google Play, and the web, as well as through the Medicare App Library.

While people are not short on health information, they are often overwhelmed by it, unsure of its validity, or uncertain what to do with it. AskMD closes those gaps. People can ask a question in plain language and get trustworthy guidance and evidence-based content that’s also grounded in their personal context by giving AskMD permission to connect their medical records and health plan details. AskMD matches people to doctors, aligned with specialty, quality, and location, prioritizing those covered by their plan. It gives them visibility into what their care costs, from prescriptions to procedures, in- and out-of-network. And it rewards people for taking healthy actions with incentives they will actually use, from gift cards to discounts at local businesses.

“The industry is arriving at the very thing that drove me to create WebMD and later found Sharecare: People want one trusted place to understand and manage their health,” said Jeff Arnold, co-founder and executive chairman of Sharecare. “But answering a person’s health question in a vacuum is not adequate. People need guidance that reflects their medical history, their health plan coverage, the care available and convenient to them, and transparency on what it costs. AskMD combines the clinical foundation Sharecare has built over decades serving millions of people with the navigation capabilities required to help them move from a health question to a practical next step.”

AskMD by Sharecare is built on a proprietary multi-model architecture that applies the right model to each task. Clinical standards, safety controls, and escalation pathways govern every interaction, so AskMD knows when to hand someone off to a healthcare professional. Paired with insurance-aware navigation and augmented by Sharecare’s exclusive, NCQA-accredited health education content, that guidance helps people move from a question to an informed next step, supporting licensed clinicians rather than replacing them.

Additionally, underlying AskMD’s orchestration layer is a foundation Sharecare has been expanding on since the company’s early years, grounded in the work of Dr. Lawrence Weed, renowned for creating the problem-oriented medical record (POMR) and SOAP notes. In 2012, Sharecare acquired Dr. Weed’s company, PKC Corporation, for its proprietary clinical knowledge methodology and management system, which AskMD uses to train its models and help people make sense of their own fragmented health information. Among its many capabilities, AskMD organizes a person’s relevant history, concerns, questions, and next steps into a clear, portable summary that helps them prepare for an appointment and communicate more effectively with their practitioner.

“So much of the doctor-patient visit gets spent reconstructing the story: when did their symptoms start, what triggers make them worse or better, what did the last practitioner say, which medications are they taking and what dosage,” said Rajesh Aggarwal, MD, PhD, physician and Sharecare’s clinical AI strategy advisor. “AskMD does the heavy lifting to organize that information before the patient walks in the exam room, and presents it in the problem-oriented structure physicians already think in. I start the appointment practicing medicine, my patient gets more out of our time together, and the plan we leave with is one they actually understand and can carry out, and is aligned with their insurance coverage.”

AskMD guides the journey; care teams guide treatment. AskMD does not diagnose, prescribe, or replace a clinician. It is designed to direct people to the right professional care at the right moment, and make that encounter more productive and the follow-up more affordable and accessible.

Arnold added, “AskMD is not another chatbot layered on top of healthcare content. It is a private, secure, and connected health experience designed to turn a person’s health question into the right next step. We have spent years building and innovating toward this moment: the point when the complexity of healthcare is finally simplified for every American, wherever they are in their personal journey.”

What you can do with AskMD

• Ask what’s on your mind. Describe a symptom or a worry and get calm, evidence-based guidance with safety guardrails that point to the right care.
• See your health history in one place. With your permission, AskMD provides digital identity verification to securely access health records, connect across providers, labs, wearables, and insurance.
• Know what your plan covers. Real-time, permission-based insurance eligibility and payor data integrations embed your benefits into every recommendation, so you know what your plan covers and what it will cost before you go.
• Find the right doctor, not just the closest one. Care recommendations go beyond star ratings and online reviews. Through curated network data from Sharecare and its partners, AskMD connects you to quality providers and virtual care options that match your needs, your coverage, and your location.
• Get your RealAge. The RealAge health risk assessment in AskMD, taken by more than 45 million people, shows how your everyday habits are shaping your health.
• Learn about what matters to you. Throughout AskMD, you have access to trusted, research-backed health education resources, drawing from Sharecare’s extensive content library.
• Earn real-world rewards. AskMD rewards healthy actions, from connecting your records to completing a follow-up visit, with incentives people actually want to use.
  

Built for health information

AskMD is built with enterprise-grade privacy and security protections through Sharecare’s HITRUST-certified security framework, along with defined clinical safety protocols and escalation pathways. People control which sources they connect, and can disconnect a source at any time.

Healthcare expertise you can’t retrofit

In recent months, some of the largest names in technology and retail have introduced AI health assistants. That wave of investment confirms the belief Sharecare was founded on: People want a single, trusted front door to their health. The difference is what – and who – sits behind the door.

For over a decade, Sharecare has been building, assembling, and synthesizing the assets that turn a conversation into care; from the clinical decision science and connected records to insurance integrations and quality provider networks.

Sharecare is also among the early adopters that pledged to collaborate with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to support a voluntary, standards-based ecosystem of private-sector technology partners that integrate with the CMS Aligned Network. Actively engaged in two of the initiative’s key categories – Conversational AI and Kill the Clipboard – Sharecare’s AskMD has been selected for the Medicare App Library, a curated directory of vetted, patient-facing digital health applications available to all 68 million Medicare beneficiaries. Committed to fostering a culture of collaboration, Sharecare paired its experience in healthcare engagement and navigation with other members of the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), CLEAR, Flexpa, and HealthEx, among others, to power some features in AskMD that make privacy a priority and hyper-personalization possible.

Availability

AskMD is available today across the U.S. on the App Store, Google Play, and the web, as well as through the Medicare App Library.

Getting started takes minutes: Within a few clicks, verify your identity to keep your information private and protected; connect your medical records to bring your health history in context; link your insurance if you have coverage; and just ask a question to get a personalized plan from your first conversation.

Start with your question. End with the right plan for you. Just AskMD.

About Sharecare
Sharecare is a digital healthcare company that delivers software and tech-enabled services to stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem to help improve care quality, drive better outcomes, and lower costs. Through its data-driven AI insights, evidence-based resources, and comprehensive platform, including benefits navigation, care management, home care resources, and health information management, Sharecare helps people easily and efficiently manage their healthcare and improve their well-being. Across its three business channels, Sharecare enables health plan sponsors, health systems and physician practices, and leading pharmaceutical brands to drive personalized and value-based care at scale. AskMD, Sharecare’s consumer health experience, is available in the U.S. on the App Store, Google Play, and the web. To learn more, visit sharecare.com.

Media Contact:
Jen Martin Hall
PR@sharecare.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b0ce730e-7e70-4b20-95bc-1db1ecd39231