AI

phonlamaiphoto/Adobe Stock

Healthcare startup Nolla Health on Oct. 5 began piloting topical acne prescriptions for Utah adults, written up by AI instead of doctors.

The company says it is the “first organization in the US authorized by a state regulator for AI to issue an initial prescription, not just a refill.” To start, physicians are reviewing all the AI prescriptions. Eventually, assuming the program meets pre-agreed safety targets and the state signs off, the goal is for physicians to review prescriptions in only a handful of cases, per the company’s Oct. 5 announcement.

Some background. Nolla has one of nine authorized AI agreements listed on the website of the Utah Department of Commerce’s Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy.

The department authorized AI companies Doctronic and Legion Health earlier this year to use AI to renew prescriptions that had initially been issued by a licensed clinician. It most recently authorized another company, August AI, to renew prescriptions for chronic conditions, the company announced Oct. 5. Nolla takes it a step further than these other pilots by issuing an initial prescription with AI, rather than just a refill.

Keep reading here.—CC

      

Sponsored By PwC

PwC reports that health plans are projecting the highest medical cost trend in nearly two decades. (Oh, swell.)

Specifically: The commercial healthcare cost trend is expected to rise to 9% in 2027. PwC notes that the increase reflects several powerful forces reshaping the healthcare landscape, such as provider adoption of AI-enabled revenue optimization tools, growing provider reimbursement pressure, rising pharmacy spending, and more.

This article by PwC outlines this trend in detail alongside cost management strategies to help ease the strain and make for a healthier tomorrow.

Give it a read.

hospitals

Illustration: Brittany Holloway-Brown, Photos: Adobe Stock

Urban hospitals are closing at nearly the same rate as rural hospitals, new research from Harvard found.

Rural hospital closures have been an issue in the US for decades. Following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), concerns over closures grew due to a provision that lowers state Medicaid funding by an estimated $665 billion between 2025 and 2034. Many rural hospitals depend on Medicaid funding to stay open.

As part of the reconciliation process for the OBBBA, Congress created the Rural Health Transformation Program to ease concerns. However, experts say the program won’t do enough to offset the scale of Medicaid cuts, as it allocates just $50 billion and much of that money won’t go directly to hospitals.

However, whether rural hospitals close more often than urban hospitals hasn’t been studied much, according to the researchers from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Keep reading here.—MA

      

mental health

Jonathan Heisler

Do employers know whether their mental health offerings actually benefit their workers? It seems many are in the dark.

Nearly all (97%) employers offer mental health services, according to a 2025 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Yet far fewer actually take steps to know if their programs are working for their employees.

“Employers would benefit from greater visibility into their employee utilization data…[and] from more rigorous accountability systems to ensure their benefits are always meeting the mark,” the report authors wrote.

The 85% of employers that expressed interest in enhancing their mental health benefits might consider looking to Match Group as an example. The parent company of online dating services including Match.com, Tinder, and Hinge retooled its mental health benefits after double-clicking on sentiment that its surveys picked up from its young workers.

Keep reading on HR Brew.—PM

      

vital signs

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top healthcare reads.

Stat: 26.6%. That’s the proportion of respondents who said they or their family members had medical debt, according to a 2025 survey of more than 10,000 people. (Urban Institute)

Quote: “There is a sense of paternalism that we have had at the CDC. It shouldn’t be this black box that we say, ‘Verily thou shalt, and then that’s the answer.’”—CDC Director Erica Schwartz, on how the agency should be more transparent about how it makes recommendations (the Wall Street Journal)

Read: A new system in California is screening patients who may be eligible for financial aid to avoid medical debt. (NPR)

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