Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health is the first U.S. health system to earn The Joint Commission’s Responsible Use of AI in Healthcare certification, the system said July 29.
The Joint Commission debuted the voluntary certification June 1 to recognize hospitals and health systems with governance, safeguards, monitoring and staff education for AI use. It assesses how organizations deploy AI rather than validating the tools themselves.
The commission evaluated Hackensack Meridian across six domains: governance and oversight, privacy and data safeguards, risk and bias reduction processes, performance monitoring, patient transparency, and staff training. The hospital system runs a formal AI governance structure and provides role-specific AI training and general AI literacy to employees.
“AI has the potential to help clinicians detect diseases earlier, personalize treatment for every patient, improve the efficiency of our hospitals, and reduce administrative work that contributes to burnout,” Robert Garrett, the system’s CEO, said in a news release.
Clinical AI adoption is accelerating across the U.S. In March, the American Medical Association reported 81% of 1,342 surveyed physicians use AI in clinical practice, up from 66% in 2024 and 38% in 2023.
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