New guidance across eight domains developed by Coalition for Health AI members provides a step-by-step roadmap for transparent, trusted AI governance.
Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) released its series of governance playbooks to streamline artificial intelligence (AI) implementation across health systems. Developed following a series of CHAI community workshops and workgroups that included 150-plus health AI leaders, these playbooks provide the essential baseline controls necessary for healthcare organizations to implement AI safely and transparently, according to a release from CHAI.
The playbooks provide examples, suggested implementation guidance, tools, and resources to help with the application of controls with the goal that organizations can integrate these controls into existing processes, therefore offering a standardized approach to governance that can be adapted for any organization’s unique context.
“We’ve been hearing the increased need from our members for practical, consistent, and comprehensive guidance for responsible AI deployment,” says Dr Brian Anderson, CEO of CHAI, in a release. “Our working groups set out to tackle this challenge, and I’m encouraged by how much collaboration from across the industry occurred to deliver today’s playbooks. These efforts don’t just help to define responsible AI; they intend to make it usable for healthcare delivery organizations across the country, regardless of resource level and all with the goal of translating AI innovation into high-quality care for every patient.”
CHAI’s playbooks were developed through a series of workshops, multiple calls for feedback, and collaboration across 100-plus healthcare organizations, including academic medical centers, regional care facilities, community health centers, and more, to ensure they reflect the needs of diverse care settings. These playbooks also provide a framework to achieve the voluntary certification Joint Commission is developing and will soon release.
“We wanted to make sure the playbooks reflected the realities of the organizations that would use them,” says Merage Ghane, PhD, director of responsible AI at CHAI, in a release. “What are the challenges, lessons learned, and resources needed to make responsible AI actionable were just a few of the questions that guided our work.”
Addressing Eight Critical Elements of Responsible AI Use
While the playbooks define the baseline controls for responsible AI, they are intended to be interpreted within the specific context of each organization, hospital, and health system. They address eight critical elements of responsible AI use:
- AI policy
- Organizational structures
- Organizational resources
- Responsible AI lifecycle management and use
- Risk and impact assessments
- Responsible data management and use
- Third-party management
- Education, training, and feedback
“We see firsthand that AI is changing healthcare at a scale never seen before,” says Dr Jonathan Perlin, president and CEO of Joint Commission, in a release. “These new playbooks are another step forward in the promise made last year by Joint Commission, CHAI, and other groups to help ensure healthcare organizations are prepared to implement AI safely and responsibly for the best possible patient care and outcomes for all.”
Taylor Rhodes, responsible AI program director at Mercy Health, adds in a release, “These resources bring much-needed structure to one of the most important challenges in healthcare AI: turning good intent into governed, measurable, and sustained practice. They give health systems a common operating language for responsible AI while still allowing each organization to adapt governance to its own mission, workflows, maturity, and risk tolerance. This work reflects where healthcare AI governance must go next, not just setting expectations but building the repeatable evidence, ownership, and oversight needed to adopt AI safely, transparently, and with trust.”
“Chandra Beasley, director of IT at the South Carolina Primary Health Care Association, says the CHAI governance playbooks are a “constructive and practical addition” to support responsible AI use in health care, particularly within community health centers and safety-net settings.
“The guidance reflects an understanding of the capacity constraints, shared-services models, and regulatory responsibilities that characterize the health centers we support,” Beasley says in a release. “It offers a risk-based, scalable approach that can be adapted to local context. Ultimately, the playbooks provide a useful reference for health centers seeking to approach AI adoption in ways that promote patient safety, advance health equity, and maintain trust in community-based care.”
The CHAI governance playbooks are publicly available here.
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