Illinois AI scribe consent: a written yes from every client
Illinois requires written notice and a written yes before AI assists with a recorded or transcribed therapy session. An intake packet paragraph doesn't count.
Co-founder, JotPsych
Your AI scribe records every session you hold this week, with new clients and current ones. The only mention of the scribe sits in paragraph nine of your intake packet, between billing and privacy.
You can give each client written notice and get the client's written yes in three steps, before your scribe records that client's next session.
We use technology, including AI tools, for scheduling, billing, and care.
By signing this packet, you accept these terms.
What the tool does: an AI tool records our sessions and drafts the progress note. Your clinician reviews and signs each note.
You can say no, and you can take back your yes at any time.
Client signature and date
Illinois's definition of consent excludes a general terms of use that mentions AI among unrelated items. The stand-alone form names the tool's purpose and gives the client a way to say no.
- Write the consent as a stand-alone form. Tell your client in writing that AI will be used, and name its specific purpose. For example, the tool records the session and drafts the progress note, and you review and sign each note. Illinois's Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act requires both the notice and the purpose.
- Send the form before the scribe records. Send it to each new client before the first session, and to each current client before the scribe records the next one. Your client's consent has to be a clear act of written agreement, and an electronic yes counts. Closing a pop-up doesn't.
- Keep each yes on file. Store each completed form with your client's record. Your client can take consent back at any time. Stop your scribe for that client the same day.
Most US adults want more say over whether AI is used in their healthcare, a Pew Research Center survey found. Your consent form lets each client decide.
In Pew Research Center's survey, 72 percent of US adults said they should be told when AI takes notes. A stand-alone consent form gives each of your clients that notice in writing.
The law covers you if you're a psychologist, social worker, counselor, marriage and family therapist, or advanced practice psychiatric nurse, among other roles. Physicians are exempt. The state can fine you up to $10,000 per violation, after a hearing.
Set your consent form as a default form on your appointment types, and JotPsych texts it before each visit.
See JotPsych- Illinois General Assembly, Wellness and Oversight for Psychological Resources Act, Public Act 104-0054, effective August 1, 2025.
- Pew Research Center, "Americans want transparency when AI is used in their healthcare", August 25, 2026; survey of 3,488 US adults, June 22 to 28, 2026.