The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) today announced the appointment of a national Steering Group to guide a broad exploration of Patient Safety in the Era of AI, a new initiative that will begin in spring 2026. This two-year effort will develop and drive action related to strategically engaging the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to significantly improve patient safety and prevent harm across the U.S. health system.
The initiative marks a pivotal moment. It has been 25 years since the landmark Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Medicine report To Err is Human exposed the widespread, preventable harm occurring in health care and catalyzed a national movement for patient safety. However, as meaningful progress has been made, the complexity of health care has created additional opportunities for error that require assessment and improvement. Today, powerful AI capabilities offer opportunities to accelerate improvement, but realizing this potential will require confronting the same system-wide barriers that have hindered progress for decades.
Patient Safety in the Era of AI aims to advance the long-held vision of zero harm from aspiration to attainable reality. The initiative will examine how AI can be responsibly and effectively deployed to strengthen core safety practices, anticipate risk, empower clinicians and patients, and close longstanding gaps in performance across care settings.
The newly appointed Steering Group brings together distinguished thought leaders with deep expertise in health system transformation, technology, quality and safety, regulation, clinical care, and patient advocacy. The group will provide strategic oversight and direction for the initiative, ensuring its proposed actions are practical and aligned with the needs and realities of the field. The roster includes:
- Gianrico Farrugia, Mayo Clinic (Co-chair)
- Wright Lassiter, CommonSpirit Health (Co-chair)
- Sue Sheridan, Patients for Patient Safety U.S. (Co-chair)
- Shantanu Agrawal, Elevance Health
- Leah Binder, The Leapfrog Group
- Jeffrey Braithwaite, Australian Institute of Health Innovation
- Donald M. Berwick, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
- Carolyn Clancy, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- David Classen, Pascal Metrics/University of Utah
- Grace Cordovano, Enlightening Results
- Eric Horvitz, Microsoft
- Timothy Hsu, Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation
- Michael Howell, Google
- Christopher Longhurst, Seattle Children’s
- Shantanu Nundy, Johns Hopkins University
- Jonathan B. Perlin, The Joint Commission
- Carla Peron, Royal Philips
- Suchi Saria, Bayesian Health/Johns Hopkins University
- Margaret-Mary Wilson, UnitedHealth Group
Over the next two years, the Steering Group will guide the development of a national strategy for patient safety—one that reflects broad input, builds alignment across sectors, and catalyzes action at scale.
The initiative will produce a series of foundational analyses, collaborative discussions, and public engagement activities, including a landscape assessment reviewing progress in patient safety to date and analyzing relevant national and international frameworks, policies and lessons learned from the past 25 years, and a national strategy focused on creating the conditions necessary for breakthrough, system-wide improvement in patient safety.
This initiative is currently supported by the Elevance Health Foundation and AAMI, the first organizations to join and whose commitment to safer, higher-quality care has been instrumental in advancing the work.
