The new Responsible Use of AI in Healthcare certification offered by the Joint Commission is meant to promote the "safe, reliable, transparent and ethical" deployment of artificial intelligence by healthcare organizations, rather than validating or certifying any individual AI tools. WHY IT MATTERSAs a voluntary certification program, RUAIH is designed to recognize hospitals and other provider organizations they're able to implement the necessary governance, monitoring processes and staff education to help ensure AI is used safely and effectively in healthcare settings."Joint Commission's goal is to provide governance support for delivering the safest and highest quality care for U.S. health systems across the care continuum," said Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin, president and CEO of Joint Commission, in a statement. "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," he added.Given the challenges posed by AI – privacy and security, data inaccuracies, lack of transparency in the AI decision-making process, and more – RUAIH is meant to promote patient safety, quality, governance and trust to ensure AI's benefits outweigh its risks.The voluntary certification standards are organized around five areas: GovernanceEffective data managementRisk and bias reductionMonitoring, evaluating, and validating safety performance, effectiveness and responsible useTransparency, education and trainingHealthcare organizations don't already need to be accredited by Joint Commission to apply for the RUAIH certification."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," said Perlin.THE LARGER TRENDThe RUAIH certification builds on a pledge made in 2025 when Joint Commission, working alongside the Coalition for Health AI, convened more than 20 key stakeholders to advance artificial intelligence best practices with new playbooks and tools to complement a new certification program.This past week, CHAI released its series of in-depth governance playbooks. Developed by a series of CHAI community workshops and workgroups that included 150+ health AI leaders, they're meant to describe some baseline controls necessary for health systems to deploy AI tools safely and transparently. They provide "examples, suggested implementation guidance, tools, and resources to help with the application of controls – all with the goal that organizations can integrate these controls into existing processes," according to the coalition.The playbooks – which CHAI says are intended to be interpreted within the specific context of each organization, hospital nd health system – address eight critical components of responsible AI use:AI PolicyOrganizational StructuresOrganizational ResourcesResponsible AI Lifecycle Management and UseRisk and Impact AssessmentsResponsible Data Management and UseThird Party ManagementEducation, Training and Feedback"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," said Taylor Rhodes, responsible AI program director at St. Louis-based Mercy Health, in a statement provided by CHAI. "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."ON THE RECORD"The Joint Commission certification and CHAI's recently published governance playbooks are tightly aligned on the need for responsible and transparent AI in healthcare," said Dr. Brian Anderson, CEO of CHAI, about the new program and resources. "We believe this alignment will greatly reduce confusion and help to accelerate rapid and responsible adoption of AI in healthcare." "We are seeing the power of AI every day in our work," said Aaron Miri, chief digital information officer at Jacksonville, Florida-based Baptist Health, in a statement provided by the Joint Commission. "It is critical that hospitals have a framework to follow for this emerging and evolving technology. This new certification 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."HIMSS is hosting the one-day AI Executive Leadership Summit in Boston June 24, 2026, followed by its AI in Healthcare Forum June 25–26. Register separately for the two events here and here.Mike Miliard is Executive Editor of Healthcare IT NewsEmail the writer: [email protected]Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.