AMA Introduces Governance Framework for Agentic AI in Clinical Care

Developed by the AMA’s Center for Digital Health and AI, the framework aims to ensure that AI systems improve patient care while maintaining clear lines of clinical responsibility.

The American Medical Association (AMA) has introduced a governance framework for agentic artificial intelligence (AI) systems performing clinical functions, outlining principles for clinical authority, performance validation, oversight, and accountability as AI takes on more consequential roles in healthcare.

Developed by the AMA’s Center for Digital Health and AI, the framework aims to ensure that AI systems improve patient care while maintaining clear lines of clinical responsibility. It will guide the organization’s work with physicians, patients, technology developers, and policymakers on liability, licensure, and regulatory approaches.

The framework’s central principle is that clinical authority should be earned through evidence and maintained through demonstrated performance. It also states that oversight and authority should evolve in response to evidence, system performance, clinical risks, and technological changes.

The AMA has identified four key areas of focus: defining an AI system’s clinical role, validating its performance and safeguards, establishing appropriate limits on its authority, and determining accountability for its use, including associated risks and outcomes.

AMA Flags Accountability Challenges as AI Advances

AMA CEO John Whyte, M.D., said the growing capabilities of AI systems are raising urgent questions about clinical authority, oversight, and accountability.

In a statement to Fierce Healthcare, Whyte said the healthcare sector cannot afford to resolve these questions through trial and error in patient care. He added that the framework would guide the AMA’s efforts to establish how clinical authority should be assigned based on evidence, how oversight should adapt to risk, and how accountability should be maintained.

Whyte also emphasized the need to address these issues before agentic AI systems become more deeply integrated into clinical practice.

The framework is intended to inform discussions on how healthcare stakeholders should determine the responsibilities and boundaries of AI systems, particularly as they undertake increasingly consequential clinical functions.

AMA Expands Its AI Governance Efforts

The new framework follows other AMA initiatives addressing AI-related risks in healthcare.

In May 2026, the organization released a policy framework to protect physicians from unauthorized AI-generated deepfakes and medical impersonation. Its seven principles include protecting physician identity, prohibiting deceptive medical impersonation, requiring informed consent and transparency, establishing shared responsibility, and providing enforcement mechanisms.

In April 2026, the AMA also urged lawmakers to strengthen safeguards for AI chatbots used in mental health services. Its recommendations included stronger data protection and transparency standards, along with penalties for deceptive practices.

The latest framework extends the AMA’s policy efforts to the clinical authority and accountability questions emerging as AI systems assume more complex functions in healthcare.

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