The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), the regulator of the healthcare sector in the emirate, has published an AI Clinician Framework, a world-first regulatory framework that sets out how AI clinician systems may ultimately be authorized to perform clinical activities that would otherwise require a licensed clinician.

Under the framework, an AI clinician system’s competence is assessed against the specific clinical activities it would perform. A wider clinical scope would require stronger evidence and competence before being considered. The framework also mandates safeguards at all levels of clinical scope, including physician oversight and accountability, and referral to a physician when needed.

The framework provides the basis for future DoH policies and supporting standards, which will define the clinical activities an AI clinician system could be authorized to perform, the evidence required at each stage, and the thresholds against which it would be evaluated.