The Ethical and Responsible Use of AI in Sessions Health

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, particularly in mental health, offers incredible promise. From streamlining administrative tasks to assisting with clinical documentation, AI can give therapists and practice owners back valuable time to spend on clients or themselves. But while the benefits are clear, there is a growing need to examine how this technology is being implemented, especially when it comes to privacy, data usage, and environmental responsibility.

At Sessions Health, we believe that the power of AI must be matched with a deep commitment to ethics, transparency, and trust. Our AI features are designed to not only save time and reduce burnout but also to align with the values of the mental health heroes we serve. Here's how we're doing it.

Prioritizing Privacy with HIPAA-Compliant AI

We understand that mental health professionals are entrusted with some of the most sensitive information a person can share. That trust must extend to the technology they use. That’s why our AI-powered features are built with privacy at the core.

Surprisingly, some clinicians are writing details about a client session in AI processors without a Business Associate Agreement (BAA), which can lead to violating HIPAA requirements, civil penalties, licensure issues, and potentially client lawsuits. Our AI powered notes and features ensure you remain HIPAA-compliant. But we go beyond this to protect your privacy. Additionally, we:

Use a version of our AI processor that does not retain or learn from your data. You can be sure your data is used ethically and privately, and not to support a broader AI processor or company-built repository.
Mask any PHI (Protected Health Information) or PII (Personally Identifiable Information) before sending data to the AI processor.
Destroy all session recordings immediate after the transcript is generated.

Destroy all transcripts immediately after the note is signed, or up to 7 days if the note is not signed during the first 7 days.
Destroy all transcripts immediately after the note is signed, or up to7 days if the note is not signed during the first 7 days.

Your client data is yours. We are stewards, not owners. Unlike some EHR platforms whose terms allow them to use clinician-generated notes for their own purposes, including training future AI models, we never use your notes or client data for training or commercial reuse, regardless of if you enable AI features or not.

Ethical AI Also Means Environmental Responsibility

AI computing comes at an environmental cost. Large-scale data processing has a measurable environmental impact, contributing to energy use and carbon emissions. While the exact carbon footprint of a single AI-generated note may be small, the cumulative effect across platforms and systems is significant.

As part of our ethical AI commitment, we measure the the energy use from AI across all customers in our platform and have partnered with ClimeCo to offset our carbon footprint. We recognize that fully measuring and reducing AI's environmental impact is complex, but we believe every technology company has a responsibility to take meaningful steps to lessen their environmental footprint. Clinicians and practice owners concerned about AI’s environmental impact can feel confident knowing our AI features are designed with sustainability in mind and guided by a commitment to a more responsible future.

Flexible, Clinician-Centered AI Note Creation

Our AI Notes feature isn’t a black box that takes over your work but is a helpful assistant that works the way you work. We designed it to be flexible, customizable, and fully supportive of the individual needs of each practice.

Clinicians can choose the method in which notes are created, including:

CURRENT - Type a written summary of the session
FUTURE - Record a live session with our integrated telehealth
FUTURE - Record a live session in-person
FUTURE - Upload a recording of an in-person or telehealth session

Once the input is submitted, the AI generates a progress note in your chosen format:

SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan)
DAP (Data, Assessment, Plan)
BIRP (Behavior, Intervention, Response, Plan)
Narrative Note

Additionally, you can customize:

How you are referred to (e.g., therapist, clinician, doctor)
How your client is referred to (e.g., client, patient)
Whether to include pronouns
Level of verbosity (concise, intermediate, detailed)
Therapy methods used (CBT, DBT, EMDR, etc.)

The result? Notes that reflect your clinical voice, documentation standards, and therapeutic approach.

Why are we building AI features?

At Sessions Health, our mission is to help mental health professionals reduce administrative time and strengthen the therapeutic relationship. When used thoughtfully, AI can return much deserved time to clinicians to avoid clinician burnout, enhance accuracy and continuity, and allow clinicians to be fully present with clients, resulting in stronger therapeutic relationships and happier clinicians. Many stand-alone AI notes solutions already exist, but with an integrated AI solution, we use the client information already available in your account, avoiding duplicate entry or the need to copy and paste information. Your trust in Sessions Health is essential, and we feel a great responsibility in ensuring our EHR remains ethical, inclusive, responsible, and protects privacy. Our AI features will always be developed in a way that stays true to these values.

The Problem with Some AI Products and EHRs

Beware! Not all AI solutions are equal. In some AI notes products and EHRs, their terms and conditions may grant the company rights to:

Use clinician-authored notes to train future AI models
Retain sensitive session data too long or indefinitely
Combine user data for commercial AI development
Sell your data to other entities that can use it to monetize other products

This practice not only undermines the therapist's trust but also creates long-term risk for client privacy. Some EHRs do a fantastic job of protecting your data, but it's important to read the fine print. At Sessions Health, we believe our role is to protect your data, not profit from it.