Court Decides Patients Don’t Have the Right to Ambient AI Recordings
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Court Decides Patients Don’t Have the Right to Ambient AI Recordings
By Lee Fifield In Health Law September 15, 2026
A Washington judge says exam room audio is for administrative purposes only.
In one of the first legal rulings on the subject in the U.S., a Washington trial court judge has found that ambient clinical audio recordings that physicians use to help create their final clinical notes serve an administrative purpose; therefore, patients don’t have a legal right to request those recordings.
With the increasing use of augmented intelligence (AI) technology by physicians, the ruling is an important step toward defining the boundaries of automated note-taking systems which, according to the court, are a tool no different than verbal dictation and handwritten notes.
The Case
According to the American Medical Association, “The Litigation Center of the American Medical Association and State Medical Societies joined the Washington State Medical Association (WSMA) and the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) in filing an amicus brief explaining to the court the importance of categorizing ambient documentation systems no differently than dictation, handwritten notes and other aids that help physicians create the final medical chart for a patient. All these aids should be protected from litigation discovery.”
The brief explained to the court that only the physician’s final clinical note that reflects their professional judgment is used to provide healthcare services to patients and that the physician’s verbal or written notes are merely temporary administrative tools that are not part of the patient’s record of medical care.
The court agreed, stating, “The ordinary meaning of ‘administrative purpose’ is for the internal operation or use of an institution.” In other words, AI tools simply assist with the time-consuming task of creating a record of a patient encounter: an administrative task which is exempt from the Uniform Healthcare Information Act which requires healthcare organizations to provide a patient with their medical records upon request.