Requires healthcare providers and healthcare facilities to inform patients of the use of artificial intelligence to memorialize patient visits.

Rhode Island Bill Summary: AI Notification in Healthcare

This bill would require doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers — as well as hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities — to tell patients when artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to record or document their medical visits. In practical terms, this applies to AI tools that listen to and summarize appointments, automatically generate medical notes, or otherwise create a written record of what happens during a patient encounter.

The bill affects anyone who receives medical care in Rhode Island, as well as the healthcare providers and facilities that serve them. If a provider is using an AI system to capture or memorialize what is said or done during a visit, they would be required to inform the patient before or during that visit. This gives patients the chance to know their interactions are being processed by an AI system, rather than only by human staff.

Currently, the bill has been referred to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and is scheduled for a hearing in March 2026. The committee has also recommended it be held for further study, meaning lawmakers want to examine it more closely before moving it forward. No final action has been taken yet.

This legislation addresses a growing trend in healthcare where AI-powered tools are being used to reduce paperwork burdens on providers. The core question it raises is straightforward: should patients have the right to know when AI is involved in documenting their care? The bill says yes, and would make that notification a legal requirement.