Utah has approved three new health AI pilots, including virtual pelvic floor therapy for women through Expect Fitness. The women’s health pilot will address urinary incontinence, pelvic pain and postpartum pelvic floor problems.
None of the pilots has launched, according to Healthcare Dive’s report. All three companies will need written regulatory approval before progressing to later phases that could involve less human oversight.
Health AI Pilots Include Women’s Therapy
The Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy approved the new pilots on Friday. Alongside Expect Fitness, the approvals cover prescription-related systems from Nolla Health and August AI.
Nolla Health develops a dermatology app that assesses acne through patients’ photographs. Its pilot will test prescriptions and refills from a short list of topical drugs for adults with mild-to-moderate acne.
Two physicians will initially review every prescription before it is sent. In later stages, their review will take place after prescriptions have been issued.
August AI’s pilot will use an AI system to renew prescriptions for people with chronic conditions. These prescription experiments accompany the women’s virtual therapy pilot within the state’s broader healthcare AI program.
Her Forward’s related coverage examines investment in women’s health and midlife health and work. Those reports address other contexts for women’s care needs.
A State Sandbox With Defined Safeguards
State law established Utah’s Artificial Intelligence Learning Laboratory, also called the AI sandbox, in 2024. Lawmakers said it would combine consumer protections with a supervised environment for testing tools before they expand.
Private companies can sign agreements with the state to test products. Those agreements define boundaries, safeguards and reporting requirements.
The new health AI pilots follow an earlier experiment involving Doctronic’s medication-renewal system without clinician oversight. Healthcare Dive reports that doctors and other stakeholders have challenged Utah’s healthcare AI experiments.
The state’s medical licensing board asked for Doctronic’s pilot to be suspended. Board members said they had not been informed before its launch.
Doctors also questioned whether the pilot had necessary human clinical judgment. They raised concerns that patients could take outdated medication.
Regulators declined to pause that pilot, arguing that clinicians supervise AI systems during the program’s initial stages. The latest approvals retain a written-approval requirement before companies advance into later phases.
Responsibility For Errors Remains A Concern
Other experts have questioned patient risks even in tasks such as prescription renewals. In a JAMA Health Forum commentary, Stanford University professor Michelle Mello examined responsibility for potential prescribing errors.
Mello, a professor of law and health policy, argued that Doctronic’s contract was unclear about who bears responsibility. Her concern involved potential AI prescribing errors that injure patients.
Related reporting on AI and women’s workplace writing examines a different use of the technology. It concerns workplace language rather than clinical treatment.
Last month, the Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy signed master agreements with University of Utah Health and Intermountain Health. Those agreements are not pilots; they establish terms for later approvals.
For the newly approved companies, moving into later phases still depends on written permission from regulators. The approvals therefore do not yet mean patients are receiving care through these three pilots.
Frequently asked questions
What will Expect Fitness offer women in Utah?
Its pilot will offer virtual pelvic floor therapy for urinary incontinence, pelvic pain and postpartum pelvic floor problems.
Have the three new pilots started treating patients?
Healthcare Dive reports that none of the three newly approved pilots has launched.
What must happen before companies enter later phases?
All three companies need written approval from regulators before advancing to later phases that could involve less human oversight.
How will Nolla Health prescriptions initially be reviewed?
Two physicians will review every prescription before it is sent; later stages would involve review after prescriptions are issued.
