When Tammy MacDonald’s primary care physician died suddenly in August, her experience quickly became a case study in the growing fragility of America’s primary care system. Like roughly 17% of U.S. adults, she suddenly found herself without a regular doctor. What followed was a frantic search that exposed the widening gap between patient needs and provider availability—and ultimately led her into a new frontier of AI-assisted medicine.

MacDonald urgently needed refills for blood pressure medication and wanted to schedule a follow-up appointment after a breast cancer scare. She called 10 primary care practices near her home in Westwood, Massachusetts, expecting at least one would be able to help. None could. Some told her the earliest appointment would be in a year and a half—or even two years.

“I was just shocked by that, because we live in Boston and we’re supposed to have this great medical care,” said MacDonald, who is in her late 40s and has private health insurance. “I couldn’t get my mind around the fact that we didn’t have any doctors.”

Her story illustrates a growing national crisis: a severe shortage of primary care providers. In Massachusetts, the shortage is particularly acute. A January 2025 report found the state’s primary care workforce shrinking faster than in most others. For patients, the consequences are immediate and personal—delayed care, medication gaps, and rising anxiety about access to basic health services.

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Just as MacDonald’s medication supply began to run out, Mass General Brigham (MGB) launched a new AI-supported program called Care Connect. A letter she had received from the health system explained that no primary care providers in the network were accepting new in-person patients—but at the bottom was a link to the new app.

MacDonald downloaded it and requested a telehealth visit. Before seeing a physician, she spent about 10 minutes chatting with an AI agent about her symptoms and medical concerns. The AI summarized the conversation and sent it to a remote primary care physician.

“I think I got an appointment the next day or two days later,” she said. “It was just such a difference from being told I had to wait two years.”

The contrast between a two-year wait and a two-day appointment underscores why AI-driven tools are gaining traction so quickly. For patients locked out of traditional primary care, digital triage offers an immediate pathway into the system.

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Care Connect is designed to address routine and urgent health concerns—colds, rashes, sprains, mild mental health issues, and chronic disease management. After patients describe symptoms, the AI suggests a diagnosis and treatment plan for review by physicians. Twelve doctors working remotely across the U.S. staff the program, enabling access 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Healthcare leaders see AI as a way to relieve staff burnout and reduce administrative workloads that consume physicians’ time. Tools are being tested for everything from note-taking and reviewing diagnostic results to billing and supply ordering.

But the technology’s promise comes with debate. Critics worry that AI systems may miss subtle details about overlapping conditions and cannot understand the social realities affecting care. AI cannot evaluate whether a patient can afford treatment, secure transportation, or navigate complex family responsibilities—areas where long-term doctor-patient relationships matter deeply.

Still, for MacDonald, the convenience is undeniable. Since joining the app, she has used Care Connect several more times.

“I don’t have to leave work,” she said. “And I gained some peace of mind, knowing that I have a plan between now and me finding another in-person doctor.”

She describes the platform as a temporary bridge. “This is a logical solution in the short term,” MacDonald said. “At the end of the day, it’s the patient who’s feeling the aftermath of all of the bigger things going on in health care.”

The roots of the primary care shortage run deep. Many physicians in family medicine, pediatrics, and internal medicine earn 30% to 50% less than specialists such as surgeons or cardiologists. At the same time, their workloads have expanded dramatically. Long days filled with complex visits are often followed by hours spent updating medical records and responding to patient messages.

When MacDonald joined Care Connect, she was one of 15,000 patients in the MGB system without a primary care provider. That number has grown as doctors leave for competing networks.

Madhuri Rao, a primary care physician in Chelsea, Massachusetts, says the imbalance in priorities is frustrating. “They don’t make any effort to ease the shortage,” she said. “They put their money into specialties. Primary care feels like a peripheral part of the system, when it really should be a central part.”

Mass General Brigham has pledged to spend $400 million over five years on primary care services, including the Care Connect contract. Ron Walls, MGB’s chief operating officer, said the investment supports recruiting and retaining physicians and implementing tools to ease workloads. “Care Connect is just one solution among many in this broader strategy to alleviate the primary care capacity crisis,” he said.

Yet some doctors remain skeptical and want more funding directed toward salaries and staffing rather than technology.

Among primary care physicians, the introduction of AI has sparked both optimism and unease. Some worry about privacy risks and the possibility that patient conversations could be used to train AI systems. Others fear the technology could gradually replace in-person care.

“What if they’re just using my interactions with patients to train their AI and boot me out of my job?” Rao asked.

Program leaders insist that AI is not meant to replace human physicians. “We are not replacing our in-person primary care,” said Helen Ireland, a physician who manages the program. “It’s still important, and the majority of patients still have in-person primary care.”

Still, critics argue the technology addresses symptoms rather than causes. Michael Barnett, an internist involved in unionizing efforts, said the platform can only fill a gap. “That sounds like a band-aid for a broken system to me,” he said.

By mid-December, Care Connect doctors were each seeing 40 to 50 patients daily. The network plans to expand the program across Massachusetts and New Hampshire, hiring additional physicians as demand grows. Patients can use the service as urgent care or even select a remote doctor as their permanent primary care provider.

Yet AI has limits. It cannot handle emergencies or physical exams. Patients requiring imaging or tests must still visit clinics or labs. Experts like Stanford’s Steven Lin believe AI is best suited for immediate issues rather than long-term care.

“In its current state, the safest use of this tool is for more urgent care issues,” Lin said, listing respiratory infections, urinary tract infections, musculoskeletal injuries, and rashes. For patients with complex or serious conditions, he added, “nothing beats a human who sees you regularly.”

Still, he sees value in the technology’s efficiency and accessibility. “I would rather these patients get care, if that care can be safe,” he said, “than not get care at all.”

The company behind the platform, K Health, argues AI is essential to solving America’s healthcare challenges. “America’s got a big problem with health care, issues with cost, quality, and access,” said CEO Allon Bloch. “To solve it, you need to start with primary care, and you have to use technology and AI.”

Early research funded by the company suggests AI can be effective. In a limited study comparing diagnosis and treatment recommendations, researchers found the AI slightly better at identifying “critical red flags,” though physicians excelled at adapting treatment as conversations evolved.

MacDonald continues searching for an in-person physician while relying on Care Connect. Her experience reflects a broader transformation underway in American healthcare—one where technology is filling gaps that the system has struggled to address for years.

AI may not be the long-term solution to the primary care crisis. But for patients who would otherwise wait months or years for basic care, it is already reshaping access in real time. Whether it becomes a permanent pillar of healthcare or remains a temporary bridge will depend on how hospitals, policymakers, and physicians respond to the deeper structural challenges still unresolved.