ATA PUBLISHES UPDATED POLICY PRINCIPLES ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, SUPPORTING THE PROMISE OF AI AS A POWERFUL TOOL IN HEALTHCARE

WASHINGTON, DC, JANUARY 14, 2026 – The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) today published new Policy Principles on Artificial Intelligence (AI), putting forward a clear, balanced framework for the safe, ethical, and scalable deployment of AI in healthcare. The ATA is the leading industry organization advancing innovation and transformation in virtual care, digital health, hybrid care, artificial intelligence in health, and next generation connected care.

“The use of AI in healthcare is rapidly transforming care delivery, creating opportunities to enhance patient trust, clinical quality, and the responsible advancement of care. The ATA embraces the promise of AI as a powerful tool to strengthen clinical excellence, advance health access, and support a more connected, resilient care ecosystem,” said Kyle Zebley, CEO of the ATA and executive director of ATA Action. “AI is already helping to expand the capacity of providers, improve patient access, and enable more personalized, efficient, and proactive models of care. Our updated policy principles support a clear, balanced framework for the safe, ethical, and scalable deployment of AI in healthcare.

“The ATA and ATA Action are eager to continue to partner with the Trump Administration, our bipartisan champions in Congress, and state policymakers to ensure AI in healthcare policy strikes the right balance, one that promotes innovation, provides regulatory clarity, and keeps patients firmly at the center of healthcare decision-making. Thoughtful, technology-forward policy will be essential to unlocking AI’s full potential while preserving trust, safety, and clinical integrity across the healthcare system,” Zebley added.

Since originally published in October 2023, the ATA’s member-led AI Work Group has added critical guidance on self-regulatory practices for real-world validation, ongoing performance monitoring, continuous improvement, and robust data security in line with industry best practices.

Read the updated Policy Principles on Artificial Intelligence here.

“The ATA’s AI Policy Principles come from listening to what is actually happening in healthcare, not from theory or talking points. Developed by a member-driven AI Work Group, they focus on how AI shows up in real care settings, with practical expectations for accountability, validation, and performance, said Aaron T. Maguregui, chair of the ATA AI Work Group, and Partner and Digital Health Attorney, Foley & Lardner LLP. “This is a tech-positive, workable framework built by practitioners actively deploying and governing AI in healthcare, and the ATA is excited to help shape a future where AI strengthens care, expands access, and earns lasting trust.”

Key components of the ATA’s Policy Principles on AI include:

Accountability & Engagement
Transparency and Explainability
Safeguards to Mitigate Bias
Clear Regulatory Guardrails
Validation and Performance Monitoring
Privacy and Data Security
Economic and Workforce Evolution

“These principles reflect a commitment to thoughtful governance, responsible policymaking, and a tech-positive approach that empowers providers, protects patients, and enables the full potential of AI to support a digital-first future of care,” Zebley added. “Our thanks to Aaron Maguregui and the ATA AI Work Group for this important work, to support the promise of AI as a powerful tool to strengthen clinical excellence, advance health access, and support a more connected, resilient care ecosystem.”

The ATA has published a series of principles to promote a healthcare system where people have access to safe, effective and appropriate care, and ensure federal and state health policy is technology, modality, and site neutral, including:

About the ATA

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) is the catalyst for advancing innovation and the transformation of healthcare through virtual care, digital health, hybrid delivery, and AI-enabled care models. Representing the most diverse ecosystem in healthcare – including leading health systems, academic medical centers, payers, technology innovators, life sciences companies, and clinician leaders – the ATA advances clinical standards, policy leadership, education, and evidence frameworks that accelerate high-quality, technology-enabled care. Through its policy and legislative advocacy arm, ATA Action, the organization drives federal and state policy change to support sustainable, modernized, digitally enabled healthcare for all.

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