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Health plans face AI governance gaps, survey finds
The 2026 Healthcare AI Readiness Index found 60% of payers say employees use unauthorized “shadow AI” tools, while just 42% feel very prepared for AI-assisted cyberattacks.
Nearly every US health plan is using artificial intelligence, but many have not put in place governance and security controls to manage it safely, according to the 2026 Healthcare AI Readiness Index published by Cotiviti and MedCity News. Based on a summer 2026 survey of 70 payer and provider executives, 97 percent of payer respondents said their organizations are piloting or actively using AI, and 37 percent described it as a core part of their business. Providers lag, with more than 70 percent still in early stages. The survey also highlights a governance deficit across payers and providers. Fewer than 40 percent of organizations have detailed policies governing employee use of generative AI tools, and 60 percent of payers said employees are using “shadow AI” not authorized or integrated with their IT systems, including general-purpose generative AI accessed without IT approval or without HIPAA-compliant configuration.
Health plans’ AI deployment raises cybersecurity and regulatory concerns as well. Just 42 percent of payers said they are “very prepared” to respond to AI-assisted cyberattacks, compared with 32 percent of providers, and more than half of payers said they are extremely concerned about AI vendors introducing cybersecurity or compliance vulnerabilities. The index points to federal breach data showing business associates involved in 43 percent of all large healthcare data breaches in the first half of 2026, and notes that AI tools deployed by those vendors can expand the attack surface.