Creating an AI Policy Framework for Your Organization

A guide for mental health and substance use care organizations

AI is rapidly transforming operations across all industries, including community behavioral health. Organizations are adopting a growing range of tools, from documentation, scheduling, analytics, and staff productivity solutions to clinical decision support and client engagement platforms. For behavioral health organizations, these tools can create opportunities to reduce administrative burden, improve access, strengthen care coordination, and support quality improvement. They also introduce risks related to privacy, safety, unfair assumptions, clinical accountability, workforce practice, client trust, and vendor oversight.

A clear AI policy helps an organization define how AI may and may not be used, who can approve new tools, what information may be entered into AI systems, when human review is required, how vendors will be evaluated, and how risks will be monitored over time. Without shared guidance, staff may make inconsistent decisions about AI use, enter sensitive information into inappropriate tools, rely too heavily on AI-generated outputs, or adopt vendor features without adequate review, thereby exposing the organization to risk, liability, and potentially negative impacts on clients and communities.

An AI policy is therefore both a risk-management tool and an implementation road map. It gives leaders, clinicians, supervisors, IT teams, compliance staff, and frontline employees a common framework for using AI responsibly.

Note: This guide gives your organization a starting template for building an AI policy and governance approach. There is no single standard policy that fits all. Every organization will need to determine what this looks like for them. This guide provides core tenets and considerations to use when designing your policy.

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