Privacy & Security Tips

October, 2026

AI adoption requires more than innovation

AI has the potential to reduce administrative burden and support better patient care, but as it continues to make headlines, one message is becoming clear: innovation must be paired with strong governance. As AI adoption grows, so do concerns around liability, privacy, cybersecurity, accuracy, bias, and oversight.

While governance frameworks for AI-enabled clinical tools continue to evolve, clinicians can take immediate practical steps to support safe adoption. Guidance from Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) offers a useful starting point, with an emphasis on vendors’ due diligence. Many of the IPC’s recommendations can be readily adapted to different types of AI-enabled tools. In practice, clinicians should conduct appropriate due diligence on vendors, understand how personal health information is collected, used, stored, and protected, assess privacy, security and bias risks, ensure appropriate human oversight and validation of AI-generated outputs for accuracy. These steps can help support safe, transparent, and accountable adoption of AI in clinical practice.

OntarioMD’s Practice Hub provides resources on privacy and cybersecurity to help clinicians make informed decisions about digital health technologies. Furthermore, the Ontario AI Vendor of Record provided by Supply Ontario can support adoption of AI scribe tools with built-in safeguards, while OntarioMD’s Patient Consent Toolkit can assist clinicians in meeting consent requirements when using AI scribes.

Until more comprehensive governance frameworks are established, clinicians should continue to apply professional judgment, maintain oversight of AI-generated content, and ensure AI tools are used in accordance with regulatory and professional obligations.