The Digital Governance Standards Institute (DGSI) has invited interested stakeholders to participate in its recently commenced exploratory work to establish a national standard for patient-visible and accountable artificial intelligence (AI) in clinical decision support.
In a news release, DGSI shared that this initiative will consider how AI-enabled clinical decision support systems can operate within Canada’s digital health interoperability frameworks and ensure meaningful transparency for patients and clear accountability for clinicians.
DGSI said its work will address the requirements concerning governance, data interoperability, bilingual AI decision summaries, post-market monitoring, algorithmic bias surveillance, and the utilization of a unique AI identifier to promote accountability across clinical workflows.
DGSI added that its initiative seeks to:
- Respond to the swift growth of AI tools in healthcare
- Address the urgent necessity for transparent, safe, and equitable AI integration into clinical decision-making
- Reflect the priorities stated in the 2025 Watch List of Canada’s Drug Agency – L'Agence des médicaments du Canada (CDA-AMC)
- Build upon federal guidance, including the Treasury Board Secretariat’s directive on automated decision-making
“Patients increasingly interact with AI tools—both inside and outside the health system,” said Darryl Kingston, DGSI executive director, in the news release. “This standard aims to ensure that the AI influencing their care is governed, trustworthy, and understandable.”
DGSI encouraged patients, clinicians, industry innovators, policymakers, researchers, and digital health organizations to participate during this exploratory stage of the initiative.
Periodic review
On Nov. 6, DGSI also announced the launch of a 90-day periodic maintenance review of the national standard of Canada titled “CAN/DGSI 103-2: Digital Trust and Identity – Part 2: Delivery of Healthcare Services.”
In a prior news release, DGSI explained that the national standard seeks to support:
- the establishment of user-centric and interoperable digital health networks that improve accessibility and security for accessible and secure healthcare services
- the development of strong frameworks for trust and accountability for the responsible delivery of digital health services that meet Canadian privacy and regulatory requirements
DGSI added that the standard aims to tackle areas such as:
- user agency and consent
- data standards and interoperability
- privacy and security
- identity re-use and digital governance compliance
In its previous news release, DGSI noted that its review will help the standard keep meeting the needs of a swiftly evolving digital landscape. According to DGSI, in the current environment, digital credentials are key to how individuals, businesses, and governments prove identity, qualifications, and permissions online and offline.