We recently published an article to commemorate AI Appreciation Day, but readers may also appreciate a law that recently passed In Rhode Island, known as the “Use of Artificial Intelligence by Healthcare Providers Notification Act.” The bill went into effect on June 16, 2026.
The law’s stated purpose is “is to ensure patients are properly notified of the use of artificial intelligence by healthcare providers.” The law contains three definitions, two for healthcare (“Healthcare providers” and “healthcare facility”), and the third definition is for AI: “any technology that can simulate human intelligence including, but not limited to, natural language processing, training language models, reinforcement learning from human feedback and machine learning systems.”
Unlike many other states’ AI laws that can require multiple pages to explain, Section 23-106-3 of Rhode Island General Statutes reads in its entirety:
Any and all healthcare providers and healthcare facilities that employ artificial intelligence (” AI” ) to document in-person or telehealth visits shall notify patients of the use of AI for that sole purpose and review the AI-generated documentation for accuracy after the visit.
In 43 words, Rhode Island requires healthcare providers and facilities to
(1) notify patients of the use of AI to document the in-person or telehealth visit; and
(2) require review of the AI-generated documentation.
Our Take
This very brief law addressed a non-controversial topic (notice to patient that their provider is using AI in healthcare), recognized the long-standing patient privacy concerns surrounding healthcare data by notifying patients of that use (documentation is also known to be a particular pain point for providers so freeing up time that can be spent on patient care is in theory for the benefit of both patient and provider), and also addressed the potential for harm to patients (review to make sure that it’s penicillin and not penny selling that was prescribed). Note that the law does not require that the healthcare providers and facilities notify patients of other AI uses, such as reading X-rays; instead, the notice obligation applies only for the use in documenting the visit. The law should be easy for those subject to it to understand, and offers them flexibility in how they choose to comply with patient notice requirements because Rhode Island did not require any specific wording.
Healthcare facilities and healthcare providers licensed in Rhode Island will need to comply and should keep abreast of the growing AI-specific requirements in healthcare. Other state legislatures may notice the Rhode Island law and introduce similar legislation (there are over 450 AI-related laws pending in the U.S. as of the date of this post).