Utah is the first state to more formally test how well AI can assess medical situations through a partnership with health-tech startup Doctronic that uses AI to prescribe refills for patients with chronic conditions, Politico reported. On the platform, patients select from a list of prescriptions they previously received and answer clinical questions. If the AI determines a refill is appropriate, it sends a prescription directly to their pharmacy. Humans will oversee the early days of refills, but the system will eventually function autonomously, unless the AI escalates an issue to a human doctor.
State lawmakers say the practice will improve access to health care, lower costs, and reduce delays, freeing up doctors to do more important work. While commonly abused pain management and ADHD drugs are excluded from the service, concerns remain that patients struggling with addiction could manipulate the system to receive medications, and that it could miss warning signs a human doctor would catch. The regulatory framework for new AI services is patchy, with approvals largely happening at the state level. Doctronic is discussing approvals with several states, it said.