Utah AI Healthcare Sandbox Targets Admin Waste and Acne

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes · Last updated: 29 October 2026

Utah's AI healthcare push is aimed at two problems at once: administrative waste and a shrinking clinical workforce. The U.S. spends roughly $1 trillion a year on healthcare administration, and published studies estimate almost half of that is waste. Intermountain Health says it runs more than 300 AI initiatives, most of them back-office projects. Under a state regulatory sandbox, Nolla Health's Nolla Derm app can now assess new acne patients in Utah and prescribe them treatment, with doctors reviewing every decision. Lehi-based Weave sells software that answers clinic phones and sends reminders. The state's Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy, set up in 2024, now wants to move these tests into Utah's largest hospital networks.

It's doing the assessment, the treatment plan generation, the diagnosis, the prescription, the follow-up and the support. It's a whole path-of-care pilot.

Zachary Boyd, director, Utah Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy

Why Paperwork, Not Diagnosis, Is AI's First Job in Utah

Each year the U.S. spends $1 trillion on healthcare administration, a sum that pays for scheduling, manual data entry, insurance approvals and payments. If almost half of it is waste, as several studies estimate, that implies close to $500 billion a year going into processes that add little for patients.

Utah's largest health system is already putting most of its AI effort into that back office. Dan Liljenquist, chief strategy officer at Intermountain Health, spoke at a 5 October 2026 press conference at the Utah State Capitol. "We have over 300 AI initiatives occurring at Intermountain today," he said. "Most of those are on the back end working on administration functions."

The workforce problem makes the paperwork problem harder. "We're expecting that up to 40% of the providers that deliver healthcare today won't be here by 2035," Liljenquist said. "They'll be retired."

Zachary Boyd, director of Utah's Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy, argues that one technology can ease both pressures. "It will improve the lives of clinicians if we get it right," he said. His caveat sits in that conditional, and the state has built its approach around testing whether it holds.

How Weave Uses AI to Cover the Clinic Phone

Marcus Bertilson, Weave's chief operating officer, who also runs product for the company, says patient access often fails before a patient reaches a clinician. Calls arrive when staff are busiest, after-hours calls go unanswered, and every one that is missed can send a patient to a rival or lead them to put off care.

Weave, based in Lehi, sells communication and payment software to independent practices. Its AI answers calls, sends reminders, checks insurance and collects payments. Before an appointment, the system reads the visit type and sends the patient instructions for that procedure. Ellis, a dermatologist who co-founded a practice on Long Island, told Weave that he used to phone every surgical patient himself and that the tool now makes those calls.

Bertilson presents the product as a way to cover vacancies, not to cut jobs. Weave's own 2026 State of Healthcare Pulse Survey found that 47% of dental practices face staffing shortages. "Our customers aren't using AI to cut staff," Bertilson said. "They're using it because they can't hire fast enough." The figure comes from a vendor's survey, so it is not an independent measure.

Weave also sets limits on what its software does. Bertilson says it handles scheduling, reminders and routine questions. "It doesn't make clinical decisions."

What Nolla Derm Is Allowed to Do Inside the Sandbox

A regulatory sandbox is a supervised exemption. Companies can test products that existing law would block, as long as they work under state oversight and hand over their data. Utah created its AI policy office in 2024 to revise rules drafted before AI was widely used. Practicing medicine still requires a licence and a medical degree. "Right now, it's literally illegal to do that," Boyd said of AI acting as a clinician.

Nolla Health, a New York startup, is one of the newest companies in the sandbox. Through its Nolla Derm app, Utah patients who are new to the service can now get acne prescriptions. A patient starts with a facial scan and a questionnaire about their history. The AI then picks a treatment from a fixed list of topical creams and gels, and the patient sends fresh scans at least five times each month.

The app raises the strength of treatment for patients who are responding well and lowers it for those with redness or dryness. Luis Wenus, Nolla Health's co-founder and CEO, described that logic in remarks first reported by Utah Business. Boyd says calling this a prescription pilot misses the point, because the AI also handles assessment, diagnosis, the treatment plan and follow-up.

For now, two licensed doctors review every AI decision before it reaches a patient. That review will be reduced in phases. Boyd says the phases depend on the number of samples and on accuracy thresholds, not on time. Those thresholds have not been published, so outsiders cannot yet judge how high the bar is.

Why Acne Came First, and Where Utah Wants to Take It

Wenus explains the choice of condition with numbers. Utah has 100,000 people with acne, he says, and only 10% of them, about 10,000 people, see a dermatologist. Several counties have no dermatologist at all. Boyd calls acne one of the lowest-risk cases in medicine and says he would rather dermatologists spend their time on complex work such as cancer.

Boyd also says the pilots so far are small. "But to have impact, you need to scale to the state level," he said. The agreements signed on 5 October 2026 by Intermountain Health and University of Utah Health let departments in both systems propose AI pilots. The aim is to find places in clinical care where AI could close gaps.

Boyd wants to go beyond healthcare into education, financial services, transportation and housing. He describes Utah as a leader in setting standards and generating evidence, and says many states have contacted him. That is his own assessment, and no outcome data from the sandbox has been released.

Wenus frames the goal as equal access. He points out that anyone can buy the same iPhone as Jeff Bezos, and says he hopes healthcare can one day reach that level.

The case for and against Utah's approach

The bottom line

Utah's approach treats AI in medicine as something to measure before it is regulated. Weave keeps its software at the front desk. Nolla Derm goes further, diagnosing acne and prescribing treatment, but only inside a sandbox where two doctors check its output. The real test comes when that human review starts to shrink. It is tied to accuracy thresholds the public has not yet seen, and to Intermountain Health and University of Utah Health putting the model into much larger systems. If the evidence holds, the state could lower some of the estimated $500 billion in administrative waste and ease the strain of retirements expected by 2035. Until results are published, the case for wider use rests on promises rather than outcomes.

What to watch

• Watch for the first AI pilots proposed by departments at Intermountain Health and University of Utah Health under the 5 October 2026 agreements; no date has been set for their launch.
• Watch for Nolla Derm to move into its first phase of reduced doctor review, which depends on sample counts and accuracy thresholds rather than a calendar date.
• Watch for Utah's Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy to open sandbox work in education, financial services, transportation or housing; Boyd has named these sectors but given no timetable.

This article is information, not medical advice. Anyone acting on it should speak to a qualified professional.