By the EHR Association Patient Safety Workgroup

As the 2026 Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 8-14) theme, Team Up for Patient Safety, reminds us, advancing safety requires teamwork—and today, that team includes AI.

For EHR and other health IT developers, AI represents a powerful opportunity to strengthen the safety net that clinicians rely on every day. When thoughtfully designed, AI can help detect risks earlier, reduce manual errors, and transform safety event data into actionable insights. But the real impact comes from collaboration. AI is most effective when paired with human expertise, transparent design, and strong governance. By building AI tools that support clinical judgment rather than replace it, vendors can help create safer, more resilient care environments.

“AI strengthens teamwork between clinicians, patients, and families by handling routine tasks and reducing administrative burden. This allows care teams to spend more time connecting, communicating, and collaborating, which helps ensure safer, more patient-centered care,” said Nichole Sikora (MEDITECH), Chair, EHR Association Patient Safety Workgroup. 

EHR systems already anchor the clinical workflow, and AI can extend that foundation by helping clinicians identify risks earlier, reduce manual errors, and learn from safety events at scale. But the impact depends on thoughtful design and governance—AI that supports clinical judgment, not replaces it; AI that fits naturally into established workflows rather than introduces parallel processes that increase fragmentation or alert fatigue. For example, AI can advance safety through:

• Earlier detection of risk through models that flag deterioration, inconsistencies, or high‑risk scenarios before harm occurs.
• Reduced cognitive load by automating routine tasks and surfacing the most relevant information at the right moment.
• Stronger learning systems that analyze safety events and near misses to reveal patterns that would otherwise remain hidden.
• More consistent care through decision support that reinforces evidence‑based practices and reduces variability.

For developers, advancing patient safety with AI means committing to transparency, governance, and workflow‑aware design. Clinicians need to understand how AI arrives at its recommendations so they can have confidence in its support for their decision-making. Organizations should ensure these tools are monitored, validated, and improved over time. 

Above all, patients need assurance that AI is being used to enhance safety and quality—strengthening care delivery without adding unnecessary complexity.

Above all, patients need assurance that AI is being used to enhance safety and quality—strengthening care delivery without adding unnecessary complexity.

A Moment for Leadership

Patient Safety Awareness Week is an opportunity for the health IT community to reaffirm its role as a partner in safety. By building AI that is reliable, explainable, and aligned with clinical practice, EHR developers can help create safer, more resilient care environments. The path forward is collaborative: people and technology working together to reduce preventable harm and strengthen the systems patients rely on every day.

This week is a chance for our industry to reaffirm a shared commitment to developing AI that enhances trust, elevates clinician performance, and keeps patients at the center of every innovation.  By aligning technology with clinical expertise, we can harness the combined power of people and intelligent systems to accelerate progress toward a safer healthcare system.