Rhode Island · House Bill · January Session, A.D. 2026
HB7538
Rhode Island H 7538 — An Act Relating to Health and Safety — Use of Artificial Intelligence by Healthcare Providers Notification Act

Status ● Engrossed Effective N/A Passage Likelihood H

WHAT THIS BILL REGULATES · 1 REQUIREMENT TYPE

How Is This Bill Enforced

Enforcement Authority
No enforcement mechanism specified. The bill creates a notification obligation but does not designate an enforcement authority, establish penalties, or create a private right of action.
Private Right of Action
No private right of action. Enforcement is exclusive to the designated authority.
Penalties
No penalties, damages, or remedies are specified in the bill.

What This Bill Requires

Verbatim statutory text on the left; plain-language analysis and a per-section checklist on the right. Numbered markers cross-link to the matching checklist row.

Statutory Text
Analysis & Obligations
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-1
Short title and purpose

(a) This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Use of Artificial IntelligenceArtificial Intelligence"Artificial Intelligence" or "AI" means any technology that can simulate human intelligence including, but not limited to, natural language processing, training language models, reinforcement learning from human feedback and machine learning systems.R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-2(1) by Healthcare ProvidersHealthcare provider"Healthcare provider" means physicians, physician assistants, dentists, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, nursing assistants, or any other healthcare professional licensed by the director of the department of health.R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-2(3) Notification Act".

(b) The purpose of this chapter is to ensure patients are properly notified of the use of artificial intelligenceArtificial Intelligence"Artificial Intelligence" or "AI" means any technology that can simulate human intelligence including, but not limited to, natural language processing, training language models, reinforcement learning from human feedback and machine learning systems.R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-2(1) by healthcare providersHealthcare provider"Healthcare provider" means physicians, physician assistants, dentists, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, nursing assistants, or any other healthcare professional licensed by the director of the department of health.R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-2(3).

This section establishes the short title of the act — the "Use of Artificial Intelligence by Healthcare Providers Notification Act" — and states its purpose: to ensure patients are properly notified of the use of artificial intelligence by healthcare providers. This is a legislative-findings provision and creates no independent compliance obligation.

R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-2
Definitions

(1) "Artificial IntelligenceArtificial Intelligence"Artificial Intelligence" or "AI" means any technology that can simulate human intelligence including, but not limited to, natural language processing, training language models, reinforcement learning from human feedback and machine learning systems.R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-2(1)" or "AI" means any technology that can simulate human intelligence including, but not limited to, natural language processing, training language models, reinforcement learning from human feedback and machine learning systems.

(2) "Healthcare facilityHealthcare facility"Healthcare facility" shall have the same meaning as § 23-17-2.R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-2(2)" shall have the same meaning as § 23-17-2.

(3) "Healthcare providerHealthcare provider"Healthcare provider" means physicians, physician assistants, dentists, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, nursing assistants, or any other healthcare professional licensed by the director of the department of health.R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-2(3)" means physicians, physician assistants, dentists, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, nursing assistants, or any other healthcare professional licensed by the director of the department of health.

This section defines the three key terms used in the act: "Artificial Intelligence" (broadly defined to include NLP, language models, RLHF, and machine learning), "Healthcare facility" (cross-referencing R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-2), and "Healthcare provider" (enumerating physicians, physician assistants, dentists, nurses, and any other healthcare professional licensed by the director of the department of health). This section is purely definitional and creates no independent compliance obligation.

R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-3
Notifications required
DeployerProfessional

1 Any and all healthcare providersHealthcare provider"Healthcare provider" means physicians, physician assistants, dentists, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, nursing assistants, or any other healthcare professional licensed by the director of the department of health.R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-2(3) and healthcare facilities that employ artificial intelligenceArtificial Intelligence"Artificial Intelligence" or "AI" means any technology that can simulate human intelligence including, but not limited to, natural language processing, training language models, reinforcement learning from human feedback and machine learning systems.R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-2(1) ("AI") to document in-person or telehealth visits shall notify patients of the use of AI for that sole purpose.

This section contains the bill's sole operative obligation: healthcare providers and healthcare facilities that use AI to document in-person or telehealth visits must notify patients of that use. The notification obligation is narrowly scoped — it applies only when AI is employed for the specific purpose of documenting visits, not for clinical decision support, diagnostic assistance, or other applications. The bill does not specify the form, timing, or content of the required notification.

Compliance actions 1 item
1
Healthcare providersHealthcare provider"Healthcare provider" means physicians, physician assistants, dentists, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, nursing assistants, or any other healthcare professional licensed by the director of the department of health.R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-106-2(3) and healthcare facilities that use AI to document in-person or telehealth visits must notify patients that AI is being used for visit documentation purposes.
T-01.1

Passage Likelihood

High
Status Engrossed
Chamber Passed origin
Committee No action
Majority party (No data)
Bipartisan No
Prior session None

Legislative History

2026-02-06 Introduced, referred to House Health & Human Services
2026-02-27 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/03/2026)
2026-03-03 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
2026-03-26 Scheduled for consideration (03/30/2026)
2026-03-30 Committee recommends passage
2026-04-10 Placed on House Calendar (04/16/2026)
2026-04-16 House read and passed
2026-05-01 Referred to Senate Health and Human Services

Entry Last Reviewed

2026-05-20
AI generated