UTAH BECOMES FIRST STATE TO ALLOW A.I. TO APPROVE PRESCRIPTION REFILLS

The Hill

 

Utah becomes first state to allow AI to approve prescription refills

by Sarah Davis - 01/07/26 11:56 AM ET

 

Utah is the first state to allow patients to renew medical prescriptions using artificial intelligence.

 

The state on Tuesday announced its partnership with the AI health company Doctronic. Through this program, patients in Utah can consult the service’s “AI doctor” to complete routine prescription refills.

 

The Utah Department of Commerce’s Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy will “rigorously evaluate” the new program’s “clinical safety protocols, patient experience, and real-world effectiveness.”

 

“The effort aims to demonstrate that safe, well-regulated AI can improve adherence, prevent avoidable hospital visits, and reduce healthcare spending, while keeping clinicians at the center of care,” the Tuesday announcement stated.

 

In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill’ on Tuesday, Doctronic’s co-founder, Dr. Adam Oskowitz, called the new partnership “a groundbreaking event.”

 

“Oftentimes, patients are going to have to wait two weeks, two months to go back and see their primary care doctor to get a renewal, so there’s a real pain point there,” Oskowitz said. “It seems like a logical place to start and say, ‘Hey, can this be done safely and effectively?’”

 

Some doctors have cautioned that taking these decisions out of the hands of doctors could prove dangerous for patients.

 

“While AI has limitless opportunity to transform medicine for the better, without physician input it also poses serious risks to patients and physicians alike,” American Medical Association CEO and executive vice president Dr. John Whyte said in a statement to Politico.

 

In response to concerns about removing doctors from the process, Oskowitz said there are several “guardrails” in place to ensure the AI models are effectively and accurately assigning dosage amounts to patients, including reviews by human physicians.

 

While Utah is the first state to put a pilot program of this kind forward, Oskowitz said that his company is already in talks with other states, including Texas, Arizona, and Missouri. He said he expects to see “a dozen other states approve something like this in 2026.”