Utah Launches AI-Powered Prescription Refills
/By Crystal Lindell
Utah is testing a new AI-powered prescription drug service that allows people to skip seeing the doctor if they need a medication refilled for some chronic conditions.
The program is powered by Doctronic, a telehealth service that uses artificial intelligence to act in the role of a doctor, asking patients questions that are typically asked during a refill appointment.
The renewal process will take less than five minutes and Doctronic will charge just $4 for the service.
“If you’re in the state of Utah and you need let’s say a statin renewed because you have high cholesterol and you don’t have any more renewals left on your prescription, but you’ve already been taking that statin, you can talk to our AI,” Matt Pavelle, Co-CEO of Doctronic, told ABC4 in Salt Lake City.
“It’s going to lead you through the process as a human doctor would, ask all of the right questions, look up all the right interactions, make sure that it’s safe for you…to receive that renewal. It will approve that and send it to a pharmacy in Utah for you.”
The list of medications that Doctronic will refill is limited. The strongest pain relievers you can get are prescription strength acetaminophen and NSAIDs. Other medications used by people with chronic conditions like diabetes are also unavailable.
“The program does not fill prescriptions for controlled substances, such as opioids or ADHD medications, nor are injectables eligible, such as insulin or semaglutide/weight-loss drugs,” a spokesperson for the Utah Department of Commerce told PNN.
Maybe Utah’s program will work as they claim and using it will be even better than talking or seeing a human doctor. But I’m skeptical.
A program like this has the potential to help patients, but it comes with a lot of questions about how it will work in practice – especially given how horrible customer service AI bots have been in general. From personal experience, I can tell you that they are often impossible to communicate with.
I also worry about how accurate Doctronic is, given that other AI bots like ChatGPT can have an error rate of 52%. When it comes to medical decisions, that kind of error rate can be deadly.
In case of a problem or error with a prescription, Doctronic could be held liable. According to ABC4, Doctronic is covered by a malpractice insurance policy
AI prescription refills could save patients from the cost and hassle of a doctor’s appointment, but if a program like this really takes off, I am certain that the companies running them will then increase the price of each AI appointment.
In the end, if it was safe to continue prescribing a medication without checking in with a human doctor, the human doctor could easily allow for multiple refills..
And if a human doctor is not needed as part of the equation, why is an AI doctor even needed?
Theoretically, if human doctors are not needed, commonly renewed medications could just have a check-in questionnaire that patients fill out when they need more refills. A doctor would only get involved if any of the responses warranted it.
I would wager such a program would be significantly more accurate, but also significantly more difficult to launch. The lack of a buzzy AI angle would probably be a turn off for both lawmakers and medical professionals.
There’s also the issue of losing the patient-to-doctor interaction, where other health issues are often flagged and treated. This program all but eliminates that possibility.
It will be interesting to see how patients and doctors respond to the Doctronic program, and whether they like actually using it. I fully support making healthcare and prescriptions more affordable and accessible. I am just not convinced that an AI chatbot is the best way to achieve either of those goals.
