Eighty-six percent of physicians said prior authorizations interfered with patient care, a new Medscape Medical News survey found.
The "'They're Awful and Impede Patient Care': Medscape Physicians and Prior Authorizations Report 2024" surveyed 1,073 physicians between March 1 and May 26. The report highlighted common physician frustrations surrounding prior authorizations.
Of the respondents, 61% said that patients frequently abandoned a recommended treatment due to prior authorizations. And the majority of physicians said prior authorization processes and forms were difficult to understand, and 58% said they did not have enough staff to handle authorizations.
These are the simple changes in the prior authorization process that physicians support:
Uniform procedures among payers — 51%
Greater automation on providers' end — 19%
A central database of procedures — 12%
Other — 9%
More e-filing/e-delivery options on payers' end — 8%