AI may soon be in more healthcare processes in Utah under new state agreements

This story was originally published by Utah News Dispatch.

Utahns may start seeing more artificial intelligence tools in their doctors visits now that the state’s Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy signed agreements with healthcare providers to test pilots to accelerate healthcare processes through AI, including an improved medication refill system and tools to expand dermatology and postpartum offerings.

The pilot programs are part of an expansion of the state’s AI regulatory sandbox capabilities. Combined with a “master agreement” with Intermountain Health and University of Utah Health, public officials hope the efforts will help shape state policy on the technology’s safety and transparency standards with oversight from third-party evaluators.

“There’s so much out there that causes a lot of doom and gloom around AI that I think we tend to sometimes overlook the promise of AI, and healthcare is one of those areas where there’s a lot of promise here,” Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, whose bill created the Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy, said during the initiative’s announcement on Monday.

“Healthcare is one of the clearest examples of why this AI policy lab approach will be amazing,” he said. “We’re going to create better access, potentially lower costs, create new innovation within the healthcare industry, and potentially even solve some of the healthcare problems that are out there.”

The office had already been overseeing some healthcare related pilots, including a first-in-the-nation program that allows an AI system to approve some prescription medication renewals in the state. The initiative was deeply criticized by members of the Utah Medical Licensing Board for not including their input before the program’s implementation.

Now, the Utah Office of Artificial Intelligence is bringing more stakeholders and more expertise to ensure pilots are done well and have a viable path to scale, said Zach Boyd, director of the office.

The agreement the state signed with Intermountain Health and University of Utah Health covers data privacy, AI governance and other aspects to allow the institutions to test AI tools and report back with their findings.

“We’re really hopeful and optimistic that these tools, when you bring critical evaluation and have a human in the loop, can actually allow us to provide better care for patients,” said Jim Hotaling, chief innovation officer at University of Utah Health.

Especially, he said, when healthcare leaders worry about access and the number of physicians may become insufficient to serve Utah communities.

“We’re expecting that up to 40% of the providers that deliver healthcare today won’t be here by 2035. They’ll be retired,” Dan Liljenquist, chief strategy officer Intermountain Health said during the announcement. “And the systems to train new people have not emerged quickly enough to meet the challenge, and so AI is an important tool in figuring out a bridge from an old model to a new model.”

In addition to those master agreements, the state has also approved three pilot programs with individual companies — one with Nolla Health to use AI to deal with mild and moderate acne in telehealth consultations. 

“This is a very common condition relative to some other conditions. It’s comparatively low risk. We’re doing a lot to make sure we’re clearly identifying when it’s appropriate for the AI to be supporting the treatment,” Boyd said.

Another one is from Expect Fitness, another telehealth company, which came up with an “AI-enabled physical therapy pathway to support women experiencing postpartum recovery, urinary incontinence, and pelvic health issues,” according to a news release.

In that program, Boyd said, patients would receive AI-supported intake and treatment plan development support, allowing a small number of remote physical therapists to help more patients from home.

The last is August AI, a prescription refill program similar to the one that was already being tested in the state. But this one, he said, is incorporating some of the lessons learned from the previous iteration.

Some major additions are the inspection of third-party evaluators to vet the program, Boyd said, as well as better integration of electronic health records, a better accountability system for the company, and a new risk formula to determine what types of prescriptions are adequate for the program and which ones have a higher risk.

With the participation of Intermountain Health and University of Utah Health in the AI sandbox, the state expects the AI tools to have a broader reach, Margaret Busse, commissioner of the Utah Department of Commerce said. 

“As they figure out specific use cases to deploy, that’s where probably I would say most patients in Utah will see it,” Busse said. “But all patients can have access in the sense that they can participate in any of them and they can be patients of any of the businesses that have gotten regulatory mitigation from us.” 

The hope for the program as well, she said, is that the Utah AI validations can be recognized in other states as they deploy their own AI standards. 

“We’ve actually talked to our federal delegation, people in D.C.,” Cullimore said about those ambitions. “We’re very interested in this model for doing something like that at the federal level as well.” 

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com.