Health AI Leaders Align on Coordination, Clarity, Trust

More than fifty leaders from government, healthcare, and industry found substantial common ground on AI in healthcare, despite ongoing regulatory debates. The closed-door convening, held under Chatham House rules, produced agreement on three shared priorities: stronger public-private coordination, greater regulatory clarity, and building trust in AI-enabled care.

The roundtable, organized under the auspices of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, drew senior federal participants from across the health agencies. They included Tom Keane and Mark Atalla of the Office of the National Coordinator; Arman Sharma and Arda Kara of Health and Human Services; Stephanie Carlton, Wylie van den Akker, Amy Gleason, and Joyce Lau of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; and Angie Krueger of the Food and Drug Administration. These officials engaged directly with private-sector stakeholders on the opportunities and challenges of deploying AI across the healthcare system.

While participants brought different perspectives to the table, the discussion produced several clear areas of consensus.

Coordination will determine success

Clinical AI is advancing at a pace that far exceeds traditional policymaking. One of the clearest themes to emerge was the importance of sustained coordination across federal agencies and with the private sector as AI moves from experimentation to deployment.

Participants stressed close collaboration among HHS, ONC, CMS, the FDA, and healthcare stakeholders to develop practical, innovation-friendly policies that improve patient care while maintaining public trust. Regular engagement between government and industry, they agreed, can reduce uncertainty, prevent conflicting requirements, and create the conditions necessary for responsible innovation.

A national framework beats fragmentation

The discussion also revealed broad concern about a fragmented state-by-state regulatory landscape for AI in healthcare. Participants reached consensus that a coordinated national framework is needed—one that establishes clear expectations, consistent standards, and the regulatory certainty organizations require to responsibly develop and deploy AI-enabled healthcare solutions at scale.

Trust is a prerequisite, not a byproduct

If one theme cut across every aspect of the conversation, it was trust. AI's potential will only be fully realized if clinicians, patients, policymakers, and the broader public have genuine confidence in the technology.

Building and sustaining that trust will require transparent governance, high-quality data, strong privacy and security protections, and ongoing evidence that AI improves outcomes while reducing administrative burden. As participants made clear: trust is not a byproduct of innovation; it is a prerequisite for adoption.

The roundtable highlighted the complexity of integrating AI into healthcare, but it also revealed a notable degree of alignment across government and industry. The Chamber said it will continue to convene leaders across sectors to advance those conversations and support responsible innovation in healthcare.

Real policy debates remain ahead. But the conversation showed meaningful alignment on foundational issues—and set the agenda for how Washington and industry will shape the next phase of health AI deployment.