How AI Prescribing Could Transform the Pharmacist’s Role in Health Care

As states begin letting artificial intelligence (AI) write routine prescriptions, a physician involved in Utah’s first AI acne-prescribing pilot says the change will take tedious, repetitive work off pharmacists’ plates so they can spend more time counseling patients.

“I don’t think pharmacists are looking to be vending machines for prescriptions; it’s a matter of serving the community [and] being a part of that community,” Zaid Fadul, MD, FS, FAAFP, told Drug Topics®. “With these AI prescriptions, it’s not necessarily the prescription, it’s the busy work; that tedious, repetitive work that is just very routine.”

Fadul, chief medical advisor with Nolla Health and overseeing physician for its Nolla Derm AI-prescribing application, joined us to expand upon his insights regarding the new technology, his role in developing it, and how AI prescribing has officially landed in US health care this year.

In part 2, he explores concerns of AI prescribing taking over the pharmacy workforce and what these developments could mean for the future of patient care.

READ MORE: AI Prescribing Pilot Places Pharmacists as Final Link in Care

Relieving Workplace Strain and Burnout in Pharmacy

Addressing repetitive workload demands is a primary benefit of integrating AI into routine health care workflows.

A national study revealed that nearly 88% of chain pharmacists engage in more work activities than when they were hired, while 85% reported that aggressive workload metrics compromised patient safety.¹

The study highlighted that professional fulfillment depends heavily on staff autonomy and having a voice in safety decisions. Automating routine tasks could significantly reduce this burden, freeing clinicians to concentrate on direct patient interactions and complex clinical evaluation.

By shifting tedious data entry and standardized processing to digital tools, pharmacy teams can gain necessary breathing room to focus on direct community care.²

Regulatory Sandboxes and Clinical Testing in Practice

State-sanctioned pilot programs are actively demonstrating how automated tools operate alongside human oversight. Under Senate Bill 149, the Utah Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy and the Division of Professional Licensing authorized regulatory sandbox initiatives including Nolla Health, August AI, and Expect Fitness.³

In the Nolla Health pilot, an application scores acne severity from facial images and initiates prescription orders through a restricted formulary, utilizing a phased oversight model where physicians initially review prescriptions before transitioning to retrospective oversight based on strict concordance metrics.

Operational applications of AI are rapidly maturing across inventory management and order processing, though clinical tools are being trialed in controlled, low-risk environments to establish organizational trust. Concurrently, pharmacists are expanding their scope of practice into clinical services such as point-of-care testing and protocol-based treatment for respiratory infections across numerous states.^2,4

The Irreplaceable Value of Human Judgment and Counseling

Despite rapid technological progress, experts emphasize that AI will enhance rather than replace the pharmacy workforce. Fadul noted that technology adoption follows a gradual progression over many years, reassuring clinicians that digital tools are designed to streamline routine tasks rather than eliminate human roles.⁵

Although automated software can process basic prescriptions and generate clinical decision support alerts, complex decision-making, patient assessment, and personalized counseling require irreplaceable human empathy and expertise. Industry analysts point out that establishing patient trust and conducting nuanced clinical consultations remain fundamental aspects of care that technology cannot replicate.^2,5

Maintaining human verification and oversight ensures that pharmacy professionals remain the central safeguard in patient care while leveraging automation to improve delivery.²

READ MORE: Technology and Data Resource Center

REFERENCES

1. Nadi S, Arya V, Bakken BK, et al. Are chain pharmacy work system characteristics associated with work-life outcomes? A national study. JAPhA. 2026;66(4):103024. doi:10.1016/j.japh.2026.103024

2. Nowosielski B, Aungst T. FAQ: where AI use is now, where it’s headed in pharmacy practice. Drug Topics. August 25, 2026. Accessed November 3, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/ai-use-in-pharmacy-practice-evolution

3. Crossan SS, Silverboard DM, Repetto EB, et al. Utah expands AI sandbox initiatives with new healthcare pilots. Holland & Knight. October 13, 2026. Accessed November 3, 2026. https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2026/10/utah-expands-oaips-pro-human-ai-initiative

4. Gershman J. Pharmacists can implement test-and-treat services in their practice settings. Pharmacy Times. January 20, 2026. Accessed November 3, 2026. https://www.pharmacytimes.com/view/pharmacists-can-implement-test-and-treat-services-in-their-practice-settings

5. Payne E. How long until AI starts to replace pharmacists. Pharmacy Mentor. September 2, 2024. Accessed November 3, 2026. https://www.pharmacymentor.com/how-long-until-ai-starts-to-replace-pharmacists/