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Sometimes, but there is no single nationwide U.S. right to opt out of every use of AI in medical care. Whether you can decline a particular tool—or receive care through an alternative workflow—depends on the tool, how your information is used, applicable state law, and your provider’s policy. HIPAA may permit some uses of health information without your authorization, but that does not mean every AI use is automatically permitted or that HIPAA settles whether you can refuse a care workflow.
What does “opt out” mean in this situation?
Before asking to opt out, identify what you are being asked to decline. “AI use” can refer to different activities: a system that records or transcribes a visit, software that helps a clinician document, a tool that summarizes information in your record, or software that supports diagnosis or treatment decisions. Each may involve different information, purposes, and provider procedures.
Also distinguish a request not to use a particular tool from a request to stop all AI-related processing of your medical information. The provider needs to explain which use is involved and what process, if any, it offers for declining it.
What does HIPAA say about consent and medical information?
HIPAA privacy permission is not the same as consent to treatment
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) explains that HIPAA’s Privacy Rule governs uses and disclosures of protected health information (PHI), not whether a patient consents to receiving health care. Informed consent for treatment is addressed by state law. So a privacy notice, a treatment-consent form, and an AI-specific consent form are not interchangeable; the document’s wording and scope matter.
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Some uses do not require a separate HIPAA authorization
HHS says the Privacy Rule permits—but does not require—a covered entity to obtain a patient’s consent for uses and disclosures of PHI for treatment, payment, and health care operations. An authorization is generally required for uses or disclosures that the Privacy Rule does not otherwise allow. With limited exceptions, covered entities may not condition treatment or coverage on an individual’s authorization.
These general rules do not establish that every AI tool or every use of data fits a permitted purpose. Ask the provider what the specific system does, what information it processes, and why. HIPAA’s general permissions also do not, by themselves, answer whether a provider must offer a non-AI alternative.
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For the distinction, see HHS’s What is the difference between “consent” and “authorization” under the HIPAA Privacy Rule? (content last reviewed December 28, 2022) and Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations Disclosures.
What kinds of AI or decision-support tools might be involved?
Documentation and visit assistants
A tool may help create notes or templates from information gathered during care. Ask whether it records or transcribes the conversation, uses information already in your record, sends data to a vendor, or places generated text into your chart. The provider can explain whether a clinician reviews and verifies the output.
Clinical decision support
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) describes clinical decision support (CDS) as digital tools that provide timely, person-specific information to support care quality and outcomes. Examples include patient-data summaries, documentation templates, diagnostic support, guidelines, reference materials, condition-specific order sets, and alerts or reminders. These functions may be built into an electronic health record or provided through a separate system or plug-in.
Medical-device software
Whether software is regulated as a medical device depends on its function and intended use, not simply on whether someone calls it AI. The FDA’s final Clinical Decision Support Software Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff (January 2026) describes statutory criteria under which some CDS functions are excluded from the medical-device definition. FDA digital-health policies continue to apply to functions that meet the device definition, including functions intended for patients or caregivers. The FDA describes its oversight of AI-enabled medical devices as risk-based, taking intended use and technological characteristics into account.
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FDA regulation of a product does not itself create or remove a patient’s right to decline its use. The FDA reports that it had authorized over 1,600 AI-enabled medical devices for marketing in the United States as of September 2026. That is a dated count of authorized devices—not a count of AI systems used by a particular provider, a count of generative-AI tools, or evidence of an opt-out right.
What should you ask your provider?
Ask before the tool is used, if possible. You can direct these questions to your clinician, the clinic, or its privacy or patient-relations contact:
- What AI tool or automated system will be used, and what does it do?
- Will it record or transcribe my visit, or process information already in my medical record?
- What information will be sent to a vendor? How long is it retained, and is it used for anything beyond my care?
- Does the tool make or recommend a diagnosis or treatment, or does it assist with documentation or another task?
- Will my clinician review and verify the output before it becomes part of my record or affects my care?
- Can I decline this specific tool? If I do, what alternative workflow is available, and could declining affect scheduling, cost, or care?
- Can you show me the relevant privacy notice or form and explain whether it is a HIPAA authorization, treatment consent, or optional AI-specific consent?
If the explanation is unclear, ask for the provider’s privacy officer or patient-relations contact and request the applicable policy in writing. A request is a way to clarify the provider’s process, not a guarantee that the provider must accommodate it.
Quick Recap
How to decide what to do with the answer
- Pin down the specific use. Ask whether the tool documents, summarizes, analyzes images, supports a decision, or performs another function.
- Clarify the data flow. Find out whether it uses live audio or video, existing record contents, images, or derived data, and what the provider says about vendor access, retention, and secondary use.
- Understand the clinician’s role. Ask whether a clinician checks the tool’s output and how it could affect your record or care.
- Ask about declining before the workflow begins. Request the provider’s policy and any alternative, then ask whether declining affects scheduling, cost, or care.
- Check the governing details if needed. If the issue turns on recording, state-specific consent rules, or a provider policy, ask the provider to identify the applicable rule or policy; the answer cannot be determined from HIPAA alone.
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