Following initial guidance in 2025, the new certification will recognize US healthcare organizations and health systems adopting and implementing the technology responsibly.
Joint Commission announced the launch of its new Responsible Use of AI in Healthcare (RUAIH) certification. RUAIH follows a promise made in 2025 when the company released initial guidance to help US health systems safely and effectively implement AI, which was developed after Joint Commission convened more than 20 key coalitions and groups with expertise in both healthcare and technology.
“Joint Commission’s goal is to provide governance support for delivering the safest and highest quality care for US health systems across the care continuum. With more than 80% of physicians currently using AI in professional settings, there is a fast-growing need for universal standards for implementing this transformational technology in responsible ways,” says Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, president and CEO of Joint Commission, in a release. “AI has the potential to unlock discoveries and improve quality, safety, and operating efficiency. With this new certification, Joint Commission is providing healthcare organizations with the blueprint for safely and appropriately using AI.”
While AI tools are proving increasingly revolutionary, their use inevitably comes with risks—from data privacy and security to inaccuracies and a lack of transparency in the AI decision-making process, and more. RUAIH aims to recognize that “responsible AI use is not only a technology issue; it is a patient safety, quality, governance, privacy, and trust issue,” according to a release from Joint Commission.
RUAIH is a voluntary certification program designed to recognize hospitals, critical access hospitals, and health systems in the US that demonstrate they have the governance, safeguards, monitoring processes, and education in place to use AI responsibly in healthcare settings. The certification focuses on the safe, reliable, transparent, and ethical use of AI by healthcare organizations; it does not validate or certify individual AI products or tools.
The certification standards are organized around five major areas: governance; effective data management; risk and bias reduction; monitoring, evaluating, and validating safety performance, effectiveness, and responsible use; and transparency, education, and training.
“We are seeing the power of AI every day in our work. Most evidently, it is making our processes more efficient and our staff more productive, enabling nurses and doctors to spend more time doing what they love most: delivering quality care to patients and their families,” says Aaron Miri, DHA, FCHIME, executive vice president and chief digital information officer at Baptist Health, in a release. “It is critical that hospitals have a framework to follow for this emerging and evolving technology. This new certification from Joint Commission has been long-awaited by our organization and many others across the industry as AI tools become increasingly embedded in our clinical, operational, administrative, and care-support workflows.”
Dr Brian Anderson, CEO of Coalition for Health AI (CHIA), says CHIA applauds Joint Commission’s new voluntary certification.
“The Joint Commission certification and CHAI’s recently published governance playbooks are tightly aligned on the need for responsible and transparent AI in healthcare. We believe this alignment will greatly reduce confusion and help to accelerate rapid and responsible adoption of AI in healthcare,” says Anderson in a release.
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