In Utah, artificial intelligence can now renew some prescriptions. A Politico exclusive says the pilot program will "test how far patients and regulators are willing to trust AI in medicine." Yasmin Khorram, economic policy reporter for Politico, joins CBS News to discuss her reporting.

Utah

The release of Open AI's ChatGPT has accelerated the development of artificial intelligence and warnings about its impact on society.

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Utah has launched a pilot program that allows artificial intelligence to renew some prescription medications without requiring a doctor's visit. The program, developed in partnership with health tech startup Doctronic, is intended to reduce patient costs, alleviate pressure on doctors, and address issues with missed medications. 

Doctronic claims its AI system matches or exceeds human clinicians in safety and accuracy, with uncertain cases escalated to in-house doctors. The initiative is the first of its kind in the U.S., and while some medical groups have expressed concerns about removing human oversight, others note the growing role of AI in pharmacy operations. Expansion to other states and a possible national rollout are being considered, pending regulatory approval.

AI renewing some prescriptions in Utah pilot program, Politico reports

The next time you need to refill that prescription medication, you might not actually have to schedule a visit with your doctor. In one U.S. state, artificial intelligence can now renew some prescriptions. A Politico exclusive published today reads, quote, artificial intelligence begins prescribing medications in Utah, a pilot program will test how far patients and regulators are willing to trust AI in medicine. Joining me now is the author of that wonderful article, Yasmin Khorram, an economic policy reporter for Politico. Yasmin, thanks so much for being with us. This is pretty groundbreaking. I mean, we think about it. This is a huge step for AI and healthcare. So how does it work? It's a huge step. This is the first time in the U.S. If you are in the state of Utah, you can now get certain medications refilled. Utah is partnering with health tech startup, Doctronic, to roll out this pilot program. Now, state leaders tell me that they hope automated refills will help reduce costs for patients and ease the pressure off of doctors, not to mention help with missed medication. Of course, this is a high stakes experiment that sits at the intersection of healthcare, labor shortages, and so much more, AI regulation. I also spoke to the founders behind Doctronic, Matt Pavel, Adam Oskowitz. They tell me that the AI system that they've created is actually safer than a human clinician. That's pretty shocking. So they tell me that if there's any uncertainty or any doubt that the AI escalates the case to one of their in-house doctors, they've shared data with Utah regulators that show that their AI doctor matched human doctors more than 99% of the time. Here's what Oskowitz said. We've tested this thousands of times already internally, and I can say without a doubt that the AI is actually better than doctors at doing this. It just does so much more, right? Like when you go see a doctor, it's not gonna do all the checks that the AI is doing, right? Your doctor is not checking the dosage each time they check the medication. They're not actually going and making sure that this is safe for somebody who's lactating. They're not doing all these things that the AI can do very seamlessly because it's just not possible. Now, doctors groups are mixed on this. The American Medical Association told me that if you take a human clinician out of the mix, it obviously raises major risks and mistakes, oversight, all of that. But the National Board of Pharmacy actually pointed out that AI is being utilized in so many ways in pharmacies, through the fulfillment process, through consultations. They said that AI can actually be beneficial as long as it doesn't give false information, of course. So how does it work? If I wanna refill my prescription, do I contact this AI bot? Is it a little bit like a telehealth visit? Is that how it works? Exactly, like telehealth. So you have to be in the state of Utah. You go to a URL, a Utah specific URL for Doctronic. The AI confirms your identity, verifies that you're in the state. It'll then pull up your prescription history and you'll be able to choose which one you would like to renew. Remember, it has to be on a list of 190 commonly prescribed medications. Gotta be on that list. You choose which one you wanna renew. The AI then asks you a series of questions similar to visiting a doctor. If it clears the renewal, it'll send your prescription to a Utah-based pharmacy. If there's any uncertainty, doubt, or questions, it'll escalate it to one of their doctors. So what's the regulatory path of this technology and how soon could we possibly see this in other states? Right, because this is not just a Utah-specific problem. Doctronic told me that they are looking to expand, perhaps to other AI-friendly states like Texas, Arizona. They're also weighing a national approval pathway. So right now, states set the rules for how medicine is practiced. This administration, very pro-AI, light-touch regulation. We saw it last month with President Trump's AI executive order. They can either go through state by state. Some states will be harder, California. Very tough on AI regulation, especially when it comes to the practice in medicine. Or they can go the national route. The catch there, the wild card, is the FDA. They have to get buy-in from the Food and Drug Administration. And just to clarify something you brought up earlier, if there is any kind of question when you're conversing with this AI chatbot, they actually are able to contact a human doctor for other questions. So Doctronic has an in-house network of doctors. And actually, for the first 250 prescriptions, a doctor will be checking those. Once you hit that threshold, there will be no human involved. If there's any questions, they will bring the doctor in. They're not gonna risk it, they say. Sure. All right, Yasmin Khorram. Thank you so much. Thank you. Always great to see you.

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AI renewing some prescriptions in Utah pilot program, Politico reports

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