U.S. Senators Question HHS Official on AI Use in Electronic Health Records

Senators on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee questioned HHS’s senior health IT official regarding the expanding use of artificial intelligence within electronic health record systems, signaling growing congressional interest in oversight of AI enabled health technology. Lawmakers raised concerns about patient privacy, potential bias in AI driven clinical tools, and limited transparency into how AI models rely on and are trained using sensitive health data.

HHS Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy, Thomas Keane, acknowledged the concerns but did not point to specific new regulatory requirements, instead referencing existing federal health IT standards and a December 2025 HHS AI Request for Information (RFI) on the safe and effective use of AI in health care. While no immediate policy changes were announced, the hearing reflects increasing bipartisan focus on whether additional guardrails may be needed as AI becomes more deeply embedded in clinical software and care delivery.