The Joint Commission and CHAI team up for AI governance work

The Joint Commission and the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) are aiming to further strengthen the healthcare industry’s AI governance principles with a new partnership to infuse best practices into the ecosystem. 

The organizations, both of which are heavy-hitters in the healthcare standards and artificial intelligence communities respectively, will develop a series of playbooks, tools, and even a new certification program based on The Joint Commission’s existing platform for evidence-based standards. 

“In the decade ahead, nothing has the capacity to change healthcare more than AI in terms of innovation, transformation and disruption,” said Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, president and CEO of The Joint Commission. “While it’s impossible to predict exactly what healthcare will look like over that time, AI’s integration and potential to improve quality patient care is enormous – but only if we do it right. By working with CHAI, we are creating a roadmap and offering guidance for healthcare organizations so they can harness this technology in ways that not only support safety but engender trust among stakeholders.”  

The first guidance will be available in the Fall of 2025, with an AI certification program to follow after that. The two organizations say that this partnership will be the first to issue AI guidance for over 80 percent of healthcare organizations and programs in the US, thanks to The Joint Commission’s broad reach as an accrediting body. 

However, they’re not the only ones trying to bring some sense of order and guidance to an area desperately in need of some early guardrails. With the lack of AI governance identified as a top patient safety risk for the industry, many leading players in the healthcare space are attempting to put their own spin on guidelines to keep organizations on the straight and narrow (except for Congress, which has proposed banning states from making their own AI laws for ten years). 

CHAI has previously made efforts in the field with an implementation checklist, adding to the more than 200 different frameworks that are currently available for developers and implementors to browse through.  WHO, UNESCO, the AMA, and CHIME are also among those attempting to steer AI development in the right direction, with a focus on ethics, equity, and safety for the people subject to AI’s decision-making. 

With so many pathways to follow, it will be important for providers to understand the fundamental risks of AI implementation, including the cybersecurity implications, and adopt a strong, cohesive set of principles rooted in the industry consensus around the need for safe, reliable, patient-first AI development. 

Jennifer Bresnick is a journalist and freelance content creator with a decade of experience in the health IT industry.  Her work has focused on leveraging innovative technology tools to create value, improve health equity, and achieve the promises of the learning health system.  She can be reached at [email protected].