Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Feb 09, 2026 1 hour, 37 minutes ago
Medical News: Across the globe, patients are quietly changing how they seek medical advice. Instead of waiting weeks for appointments or struggling with high costs, many now turn to AI tools for quick answers about symptoms and treatments. This shift reflects frustration with overcrowded clinics, physician shortages, and complex healthcare systems that often leave patients confused and underserved.
A well-funded AI platform promises round the clock free primary care backed by real physicians
A Founder Shaped by Real Gaps in Care
Lotus Health AI was founded by entrepreneur KJ Dhaliwal, whose early life experiences translating medical discussions for his immigrant parents exposed deep communication gaps in care delivery. Those moments revealed how rushed visits, language barriers, and limited access can undermine outcomes. When advanced language models began showing medical reasoning abilities, Dhaliwal saw a chance to reimagine primary care from the ground up, a story highlighted in this
Medical News report.
From Startup Vision to Serious Funding
Launched in May 2024, Lotus Health AI positions itself as a free, 24-hour primary care service available in 50 languages and requiring no insurance. The idea gained major credibility after the company raised US$35 million in Series A funding co-led by CRV and Kleiner Perkins, bringing total funding to about US$41 million. The capital will support infrastructure growth, clinical oversight, and nationwide scaling.
How the AI Doctor Operates
The platform functions much like an initial doctor visit. Patients describe symptoms, answer structured follow-up questions, and receive AI generated assessments grounded in clinical guidelines and peer reviewed evidence. Unlike simple symptom checkers, Lotus can issue prescriptions, order labs, and refer patients to specialists. All data, including medical records and wearable inputs, are unified into a single profile to support continuity of care.
Doctors Still Hold the Final Say
Despite automation, Lotus Health AI keeps licensed physicians firmly in control. Board certified doctors affiliated with institutions such as Stanford, Harvard, and the University of California San Francisco review and approve diagnoses and prescriptions. This hybrid model aims to combine speed with safety while reducing administrative burden that fuels physician burnout.
Limits Safety and Regulation
The company is clear that virtual care has boundaries. Emergency symptoms are redirected to hospitals, and cases needing physical exams are referred in person. Regulatory hurdles remain complex, but investors believe telemedicine precedents and AI advances make nationwide compliance achievable.
Rethinking Access and Cost
Lotus Health AI is free for users, with revenue expected from sponsorships rather than patient fees. By automating routine tasks, the platform claims doctors can oversee far more patients without sacr
ificing quality.
What This Shift Could Mean
The rise of
AI Doctors signals a fundamental change in how patients enter healthcare systems. If safety and trust are maintained, platforms like Lotus could ease shortages, lower costs, and expand access. Whether this model scales sustainably will shape the future balance between human clinicians and intelligent machines, but the experiment already shows how rapidly medicine is evolving.
For more details on Lotus Health, visit:
https://lotus.ai/
For the latest on AI in the Medical Industry, keep on logging to Thailand
Medical News.
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/ai-in-medicine
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