Utah expands health AI sandbox, names six outside auditors

Utah on October 5 added new healthcare pilots to its AI regulatory sandbox and, responding to critics, signed agreements with six outside evaluators to audit them. STAT reported that the pilots cover prescription writing and women's health, run through the state's Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy (OAIP).

The headline participant is Nolla Health, which has raised $4.5 million from investors including General Catalyst. Its app assesses adults for mild-to-moderate acne using structured intake and photo analysis, then may issue an initial prescription from a list of low-risk drugs. "In the first stages, the AI's decisions will be reviewed by a licensed clinician, but Nolla may eventually be allowed to prescribe drugs without this review," the article reports.

The other two named pilots are narrower. August AI will renew prescriptions for people with chronic conditions. Expect Fitness will offer virtual pelvic floor therapy for urinary incontinence, pelvic pain, and postpartum problems. Utah also signed umbrella agreements with University of Utah Health and Intermountain Health to speed review of future healthcare AI pilots.

The six evaluators OAIP named are the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI), Clarion AI Partners, Glacis Technologies, mpathic AI, Vega Health, and Stanford's Clinical Excellence Research Center. They will validate technical attestations, audit AI decision reporting, and provide independent clinical evaluation against established medical standards. OAIP Director Zach Boyd said in the state's announcement that "technical innovation will never supersede patient safety" and that outside reviewers would ensure "every claim made by AI developers is independently verified."

Participants file monthly quantitative metrics, and the office reports to the Legislature's Business and Labor Interim Committee before November 30 each year.