Follow-up questions that keep the context

What follow-up questions do

Follow-up questions let you keep exploring a topic one step at a time. After an answer, you simply type the next question in the question box (in the web app it reads Ask a follow-up), and a short question is read together with the question and answer before it, so "what about in children?" is answered about the topic you were already on. Under every answer, a Suggested follow-ups list offers three short questions written as questions to AskMed, such as "How is HbA1c used to diagnose diabetes?", and tapping one asks it. If your next question is on a new topic, AskMed treats it as a new question and ignores what came before, so you don't need to start over to change subject. Every follow-up is searched and cited on its own, with the same source filters and the same rules as a first question, so the evidence behind each step is visible. You can type your own follow-up or tap a suggestion.

How follow-up context works

Follow-up context works by sending your previous question and the start of its answer along with the new question, as context only. The AI then decides whether the new question only makes sense as a follow-up. If it does, as with "and in pregnancy?", "exact treatment regimen" or "is this asked in exams?", AskMed answers about that topic and writes its search query from the combined meaning: the earlier topic plus what you are asking now. If it is a new topic, the previous exchange is ignored and the question is answered on its own. When a follow-up is still unclear, AskMed answers its most likely meaning and says in the first sentence which meaning it assumed, rather than replying with a question. A short follow-up that names no product, such as "and its ingredients?", reuses the product name from the previous question for the drug registry search. Follow-up context is used in Private Mode too.

In the web app, the New question button clears the context so the next question starts fresh. The apps rely on the AI's judgment of whether a question is a follow-up.

When follow-ups help

Follow-ups help when one answer is not the whole picture. A doctor who has read the management of a condition can ask "and in pregnancy?" or "and with kidney impairment?" and get the same topic for a different patient group, with new citations. A nurse can follow an answer on a procedure with "what complications should I watch for?". A pharmacist can move from a drug's mechanism to its interactions to its monitoring in three short questions. A medical student can work through a topic the way a tutor would, from pathophysiology to diagnosis to treatment, using the suggested follow-ups when unsure what to ask next, or ask "is this asked in exams?". A researcher can narrow from a broad evidence question to one population or outcome. Because each step is searched again, the follow-up answer can draw on sources the first answer didn't use, rather than repeating what it already said.

For more on how AskMed reads questions, see How AskMed answers. Get AskMed on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, on Google Play for Android, or use it on the web.

Limits of follow-ups

Follow-ups have limits because only a small part of the conversation is used as context. AskMed sends your last answered question and the start of its answer, not the whole conversation, so a follow-up that depends on something said three questions ago may not be understood; name the topic again in that case. The AI decides whether a question is a follow-up, and it can judge wrongly, either linking an unrelated question to the last topic or treating a real follow-up as new. If an answer seems to be about the wrong thing, rephrase it with the topic in the question. Suggested follow-ups are written by the AI and are only ideas; they follow the same no-dose rule as every answer. A request for an exact dose or regimen in a follow-up gets the treatment strategy without amounts or schedules. Each follow-up is a separate answer, so check its own citations rather than assuming it rests on the earlier sources.