New York-based Nolla Health has launched a pilot program in Utah allowing its AI platform to issue initial prescriptions for topical acne treatments through its Nolla Derm app. According to reports, the one-year program is limited to patients with mild to moderate acne. Patients with severe or complex cases will be referred to a human doctor.
According to Bloomberg, the Nolla Derm app takes images of a patient’s face and asks them to provide personal information and medical history. The app then analyzes the patient’s acne and the presence of excess skin oil and generates an “acne severity score,” Bloomberg reported.
The program will not be fully automated immediately and will be introduced in phases. During the first phase, doctors will remain in the loop for the first 100 prescriptions, the press release said.
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That will be followed by a second phase covering the first 500 prescriptions, during which the AI system will issue the prescriptions while doctors review them retroactively. Once the process becomes fully automated, doctors will continue to review a sample of cases afterward.
“AI will matter most in healthcare when it helps people get care they otherwise would not receive,” said Luis Wenus, co-founder and CEO of Nolla Health. “Growing up with a doctor in the family, I saw how powerful it was to have trusted medical help within reach, and millions of people do not have that today. With Nolla Derm, we are showing how AI can responsibly expand that access and help someone get personalized treatment in minutes instead of long waits or going without care altogether. That’s the future Nolla is building toward: AI helping high-quality health care reach far more people.”
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The pilot comes amid growing debate over the use of AI in medicine. In January, Utah rolled out another pilot program allowing patients to opt into an AI system that can renew certain prescriptions after a doctor validates the initial action. The program raised concerns among some health care professionals.
“We have crossed a threshold in terms of giving something that is not human a medical license, whether or not we want to call it that,” said Dr. Eric Bressman of the University of Pennsylvania.
Bressman and other experts are not necessarily opposed to AI prescribing, but they argue that such systems should meet rigorous standards comparable to those required of human doctors, who undergo years of education, testing and training before receiving medical licenses.