(Originally published by JAMA Health Forum on March 19, 2026.)

Utah’s AI Prescription Renewal Pilot: A Measured Step Into Autonomous Medicine

Utah has launched a novel pilot program permitting an autonomous AI agent, developed by the company Doctronic, to renew prescriptions for 192 drugs treating chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and depression. The initiative addresses structural challenges that patients may encounter getting prescriptions renewed, including provider shortages and cost barriers.

The pilot incorporates meaningful safeguards: human physicians will review the AI’s output for the first 250 patients, an automatic escalation protocol refers complex cases to clinicians, and Doctronic is contractually prohibited from using patient data for other purposes. Participants must also be informed they are interacting with AI.

However, important questions remain. Pre-deployment evidence of system performance is limited and there are no plans for independent evaluation of performance after deployment or public sharing of findings from Doctronic’s own evaluation. There are also questions about accountability for errors, since Doctronic’s terms of service disclaim liability for the system.

The use of autonomous AI to renew prescriptions also risks losing an important clinical touchpoint for patients to receive preventive care. Physicians currently use prescription expirations as a mechanism for getting patients in for visits to check up on other health issues.

While the Doctronic program may offer a promising model for improving medication access, robust oversight, transparent reporting, and clear accountability frameworks will be essential moving forward.

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