Nolla Health, a New York company, announced on October 5, 2026 a Utah pilot in which its Nolla Derm app uses AI to choose acne treatments for adults. Doctors review the work in stages.
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Limited pilot, announced October 5, 2026 | Nolla Health |
| Who can join | Utah residents aged 18 and older with mild to moderate acne | Nolla Health |
| Nolla Derm subscription | From $4.99 a month, medication extra | Nolla Health, MobiHealthNews |
| Utah average dermatology wait | 61 days | Nolla Health |
| Dermatology visit cost | Up to $300 | Nolla Health |
| Clinician agreement with AI | 96% (company-reported) | Nolla Health |
What happens after you sign up
Nolla says onboarding takes about 10 to 15 minutes. You verify your identity, give informed consent, answer a short questionnaire, and take a five-angle face scan. The AI then picks a treatment from a fixed set of physician-approved topical plans. Nolla says the prescription flow has no free-text interface, so the AI isn’t making free-form decisions. Oral medications and isotretinoin are excluded. Severe acne, pregnancy, and other conditions outside the pilot go to a licensed physician.
After that you do daily skin scans, and the plan is reviewed after every 28 scans. You can message a licensed physician in the app at no extra cost, and a person, not AI, answers.
Three stages of doctor review
According to Nolla, the pilot loosens oversight as it goes. In stage one, two Utah-licensed physicians approve every prescription for the first 100 patients, for at least four weeks. In stage two, for up to 500 patients over at least eight weeks, the AI issues prescriptions directly and a physician reviews each case afterward, at least weekly. In stage three, physicians review at least 10% of prescriptions monthly, plus every escalation or side effect case. Moving between stages requires 95% agreement with physicians, no serious adverse events, and written state approval, Nolla says.
Cost is simpler. The subscription starts at $4.99 a month, which Nolla describes as a discounted opt-in rate. MobiHealthNews reports that medication costs are separate. We couldn’t find a published price for the medication, so budget for it separately.
Why It Matters to You
- Adults in Utah with mild to moderate acne could get a treatment plan without waiting 61 days for a dermatologist.
- A physician is still involved at every stage.
- People in the eleven counties with no dermatologist may feel the difference most.
- It isn’t open to people outside Utah, to anyone under 18, or to severe cases.
- The subscription starts at $4.99 a month, and medication costs extra.
What to be careful about
The safety figures so far come from Nolla. It reports that clinicians agreed with the AI’s recommendation in 96% of real-world cases, with minor differences such as topical strength, and no independent study has been published. Its access statistics describe the need, not the results: about 100,000 Utahns have active acne at any time, about 10% ever see a dermatologist, the average wait is 61 days, and eleven counties have no dermatologist. Nolla also says its app has more than 175,000 downloads across 44 states, but that isn’t a count of Utah pilot patients or prescriptions. Stage two means the AI can issue prescriptions before a doctor sees them, with review afterward. MobiHealthNews notes that Utah’s Medical Licensing Board called in April 2026 for suspending a separate AI prescription-renewal pilot run by Doctronic, saying it was not consulted. That’s a different company and program, but it shows regulators disagree on this approach. We didn’t find a statement from the American Medical Association on this specific pilot.
Common questions
Who can use Nolla Derm in the Utah pilot? Utah residents aged 18 and older with mild to moderate acne. Severe acne and pregnancy are screened out.
Can the AI prescribe pills or isotretinoin? No. MobiHealthNews reports that oral medications and isotretinoin are excluded. The AI chooses only from predefined topical protocols.
Does a doctor see my case? It depends on the stage. Early patients get a two-physician review before the prescription goes out. Later, doctors review after the fact, and they review all escalations and side effect cases.
Is this medical advice? No. This article reports on a pilot. Talk to a licensed clinician about your own skin and treatment.
Sources
- Nolla Health: AI prescriptions in Utah (Oct 5, 2026)
- MobiHealthNews: Nolla Health launches Utah pilot for AI acne prescriptions (Oct 5, 2026)