Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform how healthcare operates, is delivered, and is experienced by patients. Since 2019, the OECD has shown leadership in this area through the publication of its AI Principles and the creation of supporting initiatives such as the OECD.AI Policy Observatory, expert groups, and publications promoting the responsible use of AI. In 2024, OECD Health Ministers endorsed the Declaration on Building Better Policies for More Resilient Health Systems, which acknowledged, among other priorities, “the importance of adopting a sector‑specific approach to developing appropriate policies around the use of artificial intelligence in health, while taking into account multi‑sectoral contexts, such that the benefits in areas such as health system resilience can be realised fully.” This report – and its policy checklist – aims to support that objective.
This report goes on to review OECD Members’ progress in taking action to advance the responsible scale of AI in their health systems. It is clear that while progress is being made, there is still significant work to be done in areas of trust and capacity building; strengthening data quality, access, protection, and use; and leadership to guide and oversee action in the implementation of AI in Health.
This report was prepared by Eric Sutherland, Rachel Fellner and Yunona L’Heureux at the OECD Health Division within the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (ELS). This report is part of the OECD Horizontal Project on Thriving with AI: Empowering Economies and Societies. The authors would like to thank colleagues in OECD’s Science. Technology, and Innovation (STI) and Governance (GOV) directorates for their extensive comments, input and direction. A number of colleagues provided meaningful comments and direction, including Lucia Russo and Limor Schmerling-Magazanik (with STI), and Ricardo Zapata and Jamie Berryhill (with GOV). The authors would also like to thank colleagues from ELS including Francesca Colombo and Mark Pearson.
The authors are grateful to Bogi Eliasen (Movement Health), David Novillo and Clayton Hamilton (World Health Organization – Europe), and Simon Hagens and Ronan O’Kelly (Global Digital Health Partnership – GDHP) for their comments and suggestions in preparation of the earlier document drafted for Health at a Glance 2023 and used in the GDHP/OECD Policy Repository Tool.
The authors are also appreciative of the efforts of the OECD AI in Health Expert Group who were instrumental to the development of this checklist and the drafting process. Members of the of the expert group are included at the end of this document (see Annex A). The authors would also like to thank the GDHP, and Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) who offered helpful advice on the comprehensiveness and priority of the items in this checklist. The authors would also like to thank Sasa Jenko (European Commission), and Kathrin Cresswell and Robin Williams (University of Edinburgh) for their comments and suggestions to the document.
Finally, the authors would like to thank the Health Foundation for financial support in the development of this checklist and report.
The views expressed in this document are the views of the authors and not necessarily the views of any OECD country or individual expert.