About 92 percent of physicians report prior authorization has a negative effect on patient clinical outcomes, according to a new survey from the American Medical Association.
For the survey, the AMA asked 1,000 patient-care physicians 27 questions online about their experiences with prior authorization.
Here are five things to know.
1. Sixty-one percent of physicians reported prior authorization had a significant negative impact on patient clinical outcomes, 31 percent said it had a somewhat negative impact, 7 percent said it had no impact and 2 percent said it had a significant positive impact.
2. A large majority of physicians (92 percent) said prior authorization delayed necessary care for their patients and 78 percent of physicians said prior authorization has sometimes, often or always led to their patient abandoning a recommended course of treatment.
3. Sixty-four percent of physicians report waiting at least one business day for a prior authorization decision and 30 percent report waiting at least three business days.
4. Eighty-four percent of patients said the burdens of prior authorization were high or extremely high. In addition, 86 percent of physicians reported the burdens associated with this process have increased in the past five years.
5. Each week, a medical practice completes 29.1 prior authorization requests per physician, which takes an average of 14.6 hours to process.
"The AMA survey illustrates a critical need to help patients have access to safe, timely, and affordable care, while reducing administrative burdens that take resources away from patient care," said AMA Chair-elect Jack Resneck, MD.