Photo: FG Trade/Getty Images
The state of Utah is partnering with AI-enabled doctor consultation platform Doctronic to allow an autonomous AI system to legally participate in prescription renewals for patients with chronic conditions.
Doctronic offers a personal AI doctor. The company says the AI asks relevant clinical questions in response to individuals' inquiries and provides medical explanations. Doctronic also offers access to licensed physicians via video visits.
Through the partnership, the state of Utah, through the Utah Department of Commerce’s Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy, said it is giving patients with chronic conditions an automated way to renew their medications, and allowing Doctronic to become the first AI to legally prescribe routine refills using its autonomous AI platform.
In a statement, the state said the agreement "marks the first state-approved program in the country that allows an AI system to legally participate in medical decision-making for prescription renewals."
The pilot is tracking medication refill timeliness and adherence as well as patient access and satisfaction, workflow efficiency, cost impacts and safety outcomes.
"The Office will rigorously evaluate the platform’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 state said in a statement.
Matt Pavelle, co-CEO of Doctronic, said in a statement that the partnership with Utah enables patients, pharmacists and physicians to work together more efficiently, and he hopes other states will follow Utah's lead.
THE LARGER TREND
Last year, proposed legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would allow AI and machine learning technology to prescribe drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) autonomously.
The bill, H.R.238, introduced in January 2025, would require amending the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to "clarify that artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies can qualify as a practitioner eligible, to prescribe drugs if authorized by the State involved and approved, cleared or authorized by the Food and Drug Administration and for other purposes."
If approved, section 503(b) of FFDCA would be amended, adding that the term would recognize AI as a "practitioner licensed by law to administer such drugs," which would include AI and machine learning technology authorized pursuant to a "statute of the state" and approved, cleared or authorized under sections 510(k), 513, 515 or 564 of the FDA.
The Prescription of Drugs by Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning Technologies, or, if approved, the "Healthy Technology Act of 2025," was sponsored by Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz. It was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and is actively being legislated.
