Texas Requires Providers to Make Disclosures to Patients Related to the Use of AI in Healthcare Services

Key Takeaways

• Texas now mandates patient disclosure when AI is used in healthcare services. Effective January 1, 2026, providers of healthcare services and treatments in Texas must clearly and conspicuously disclose the use of artificial intelligence in diagnostic or treatment-related services at the time care is first provided, with limited emergency exceptions.
• These consumer transparency requirements apply broadly and complement earlier Texas AI laws. The law has potential impacts for virtually any AI system used in connection with healthcare services and treatments and builds on prior Texas legislation permitting AI use in electronic health records while requiring practitioner oversight, scope-of-license compliance, and review of AI-generated records.
• Noncompliance carries regulatory and financial risk amid expanding state regulation of AI in healthcare and beyond. Failure to meet AI disclosure obligations may result in disciplinary action and civil monetary penalties, as Texas joins a growing number of states regulating AI use and transparency in healthcare.

What the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act Requires of Healthcare Providers

As part of the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act,¹ providers of healthcare services or treatments that use artificial intelligence in relation to healthcare service or treatment must now disclose the use of that technology to patients.² The disclosure may be provided by hyperlink to a separate internet web page but must be clear and conspicuous, written in plain language, and may not use a dark pattern.³ Effective January 1, 2026, disclosures must be made to the recipient of the service or treatment or the recipient’s personal representative on the date the service or treatment is first provided, except in cases of emergency, when the disclosure should be made as soon as reasonably possible.

The disclosure requirement applies broadly to artificial intelligence systems used in relation to any healthcare service or treatment, including services related to human health or to the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of a human disease or impairment provided by an individual licensed, registered, or certified under applicable state or federal law to provide those services. The Act defines artificial intelligence to mean any machine-based system that, for any explicit or implicit objective, infers from the inputs the system receives how to generate outputs, including content, decisions, predictions, or recommendations, that can influence physical or virtual environments.

How the New Disclosure Law Interacts With Existing Texas AI and Electronic Health Record Requirements

This latest consumer disclosure requirement follows closely after recent Texas legislation that regulates Texas healthcare practitioners use of artificial intelligence technology in electronic health record systems for diagnostic purposes.⁴ Effective September 1, 2025, Texas expressly permits healthcare practitioners to use artificial intelligence for diagnostic purposes, including the use of artificial intelligence for recommendations on a diagnosis or course of treatment based on a patient’s medical record. However, practitioners must also comply with the following protections and oversight measures:

1. The practitioner is acting within the scope of the practitioner’s license, certification, or other authorization to provide healthcare services in the state of Texas;
2. The particular use of artificial intelligence is not otherwise restricted or prohibited by state or federal law; and
3. The practitioner reviews all records created with artificial intelligence consistent with Texas Medical Board medical records standards.

Texas and the Expanding Role of State-Level AI Regulation

Texas is among a growing number of states implementing laws governing the use of artificial intelligence more broadly and specifically requiring notifications to patients around the use of AI. The Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act includes a wide variety of requirements related to the use and development of artificial intelligence systems in Texas, which have broad implications for deployers and developers of artificial intelligence that are not limited to the healthcare space. Noncompliance with the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act, and these patient notification requirements, may result in disciplinary action from applicable state licensure agencies and civil monetary penalties.

For more information related to best practices related to the use of artificial intelligence for diagnostic and treatment purposes and necessary compliance safeguards when adopting the use of artificial intelligence, please contact AGG Healthcare partner Charmaine Mech Aguirre.

[1] Tex. Bus. & Com. Code Title 11, Subtit. D.

[2] See H.B. 149, https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/pdf/HB00149F.pdf.

[3] A user interface designed or manipulated with the effect of substantially subverting or impairing user autonomy, decision-making, or choice, and includes any practice the Federal Trade Commission refers to as a dark pattern.

[4] See Tex. Health & Safety Code § 183.005; Senate Bill 1188, https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/html/SB01188E.htm.

Author:

Charmaine Mech Aguirre // charmaine.mech@agg.com