The Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) is launching a national initiative to help 2,000 public health practitioners implement AI, with pilots starting this fall and playbooks expected next year. The move comes as only 5% of local health departments used AI in 2024, leaving public health agencies behind while AI becomes embedded in private healthcare.
The AI adoption gap in public health
According to the National Association of County and City Health Officials, 84% of local health departments had no plans to use AI in the following year. Among those not using AI, nearly 40% expressed some interest in future adoption. This gap persists despite federal efforts: HHS launched an initiative in 2025 to integrate AI into internal operations, research, and public health, but state and local agencies have been slower to adopt. The slow pace of AI for Healthcare at the local level creates a growing divide between public and private sector capabilities.
How PULSE will work
CHAI's 17-member leadership council will select participants from state and territorial health departments, local and county health departments, tribal authorities, Indian health organizations, and large city health departments. Each participant will join a use-case committee and work with Accenture's AI and public health experts to run pilots. Based on those pilots, the groups will develop playbooks outlining best practices for adopting AI, particularly generative AI. OpenAI and Anthropic have donated 10 enterprise licenses to support the work.
"PULSE is designed to help public health agencies build trust, practical experience, and a path to responsible implementation of this powerful technology," said Brian Anderson, MD, CEO of CHAI. "We're proud to provide a vehicle for these organizations to share what they learn using leading AI tools in real-world settings, facilitating adoption and helping accelerate responsible innovation that strengthens public health nationwide."
Five use cases for AI pilots
The initiative will target these specific areas:
- Biosurveillance: Drug wave prediction
- Social determinants of health: SDOH mapping
- Operations and efficiency: Community feedback analysis
- Public communications: Multilingual translation hub
- Automated clinical data retrieval: FHIR query engine
CHAI will assign participants to their preferred use-case committee, giving public health professionals direct, hands-on experience with generative AI tools in real-world settings.
Why this matters for healthcare professionals
Public health agencies operate as government entities, and this initiative signals a shift toward practical AI for Government adoption at the local level. David Lakey, M.D., former commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said: "Every major technological transformation succeeds or fails based on trust, governance and execution. Public institutions have the added responsibility of doing so while maintaining transparency and accountability. PULSE will support agencies in this endeavor, and is specifically designed for practical implementation - working hand in hand with the professionals that are actively using the generative AI tools."
For healthcare professionals in public health roles, the playbooks that emerge from these pilots will offer concrete, tested guidance - not theoretical frameworks - on deploying AI for biosurveillance, community engagement, and clinical data tasks. The initiative gives 2,000 practitioners a chance to shape how AI enters their workflows before mandates arrive from above.
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