Improve billing income
Help billing teams find missing details and follow up on payments.
For leadersA clear plan.
A clear plan.
People in charge.
Resources for leaders who choose tools, set rules, and support care teams.
Find practical tools
Make the value visible.
Keep care at the center.
Look at care quality, staff needs, and costs together. AI can help, but savings and growth are not certain.
Reduce denied claims
Help staff check claims before they send them for payment.
Help the team serve more clients
AI may free up staff time by doing routine tasks. Keep workloads safe as the team grows.
Reduce costs
Cut repeated tasks and wasted effort to help lower costs.
Help new staff learn faster
Clear guidance in the tool can help new staff learn each step.
Switch between fewer systems
Tools that work together can cut repeat typing and extra steps.
Keep private data safer
Tools linked to health records may cut extra copies of private data. Check how the tool stores and shares it.
Practical starting pointsMake your next
01 / Choose a toolMake your next
decision clearer.
Before You Buy an AI Tool
25 questions with steps to take and proof to ask for.
Open the checklist ↗02 / Follow the dataDocument data practices
Track how a tool stores, uses, and shares data with the fillable worksheet.
Open the worksheet ↗Five areas for responsible use.
Use five areas to review each AI task. This evolving guide is for learning and planning. It is not a validated test or certification.
Clinical Appropriateness
Match the tool to the task.
Choose a clear task for AI. Trained staff make care decisions.
Privacy & Security
Protect data at every step.
Use approved tools. Set rules for who can see data and how it is kept safe.
Reliability & Safety
Check the tool’s work each time.
Test the tool on its task. Make checking and fixing its work part of daily use.
Human Oversight
Keep trained people in charge.
Name who checks the work. Let them edit it, reject it, or stop the task.
Governance & Accountability
Name a lead and keep improving.
Name a person in charge. Write down approved uses. Track results and use feedback to improve.
Give your team
a shared operating structure.
The National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s September 2026 guide helps care teams write AI rules. Adapt it to your work. Have care, legal, privacy, and IT staff review it.
Define the boundaries.
List allowed tools and tasks. Set rules for data, review, and what clients will be told.
Keep the policy alive.
Name people in charge. Include the right teams. Set times to review and update the rules.
Use this as a starting point. Your care, privacy, security, and legal teams must review it for your setting.
Build your team’s AI skills.
- Responsible AI governance
- Organizational AI policies
- AI readiness
- Vendor evaluation
- Data governance
- Privacy and cybersecurity
- Clinical risk
- Human-in-the-loop oversight
- Workforce AI literacy
- Staff education
- Shadow AI
- Change management
- AI procurement and implementation
- Measuring value and ROI without compromising quality
- Bias, fairness, and equity
- Documentation and accountability
- AI incident reporting
- Governance committees
- Executive and board oversight
Keep learning.
What Behavioral Health Leaders Should Know About Shadow AI
Leadership
A practical plan to find AI uses, review them, and give staff workable choices.
Read the guideA Responsible AI Governance Framework for Behavioral Health Organizations
Governance
Use five clear review areas to plan, test, approve, and monitor each AI task.
Read the articleBefore You Buy an AI Tool
25 questions to help you choose an AI tool. Learn what to do and what proof to ask for.
Read and download the checklist