As a healthcare practice in the U.S., chances are, you’re looking to learn how to speed up prior authorization. A 2024 study in the journal Health Affairs Scholar found that providers reported spending the equivalent of more than 100,000 full-time registered nurses per year on prior authorization.
Prior authorization turnaround times, in particular, are a pain point for providers. In fact, 44% of medical groups say that payers’ responses were slower in 2026 compared to 2025, an MGMA Stat poll found. While requests for more information, status checks, peer-to-peer reviews, denials, and appeals are to blame, incomplete packets and unread responses can often add more days than the payer review itself.
To speed up prior authorization, therefore, you have to cut the time on your side of the clock. That includes submitting a complete, payer-specific packet the first time, sending it through the fastest channel each payer accepts, and acting on the payer’s response the day it arrives.
Here, we explore how to speed up prior authorizations including those for procedures, imaging, specialty services, and medication.
Key Takeaways
- Prior authorizations are the most time-consuming task for healthcare practices that also lead to delays in care.
- Speeding up prior authorization includes tracking time, standardizing packet assembly, and using automation to review payer responses that are instantly classified and routed to the right owner.
- Documo’s prior authorization software sends packets with cover pages, classifies payer responses, extracts prior authorization details, routes them to the right owner, and files them to the EHR.
Where Prior Authorization Turnaround Time Actually Goes
More than 4 in 10 healthcare practice leaders say prior authorizations are their staff’s most time-consuming task. According to the 2025 AMA prior authorization physician survey, practices complete 40 prior authorizations per physician, per week, on average, accounting for 13 hours a week. What’s more, 95% say prior authorizations are delaying access to necessary care, the same survey found.
Understanding the root cause of prior authorization turnaround times is important to know before you can fix it.
| Your Clock | The Payer’s Clock |
|---|---|
| Order → submission-ready → response received → action taken | Submission→ determination |
As of January 1, 2026, the CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule CMS-0057-F requires impacted payers, including Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and CHIP (excluding QHP issuers on the FFEs) to send prior authorization decisions within 72 hours for expedited requests and seven calendar days for standard requests. While this rule is critical, it accelerates the payer’s clock, not yours. Fortunately, there is a lot that can be done to make the process faster.
8 Ways To Speed Up Prior Authorization
From taking stock of your time, to automating the packet assembly and the classification and routing of the payer’s response, here’s how to speed up prior authorization.
1. Measure your side of the clock first.
To shorten prior authorization turnaround time, track two numbers: order-to-submission time and the response-to-action time. Track these for two weeks to get a baseline on where staff are spending their time. Addressing unsorted queues, slow triage, and a lack of prioritization can reduce fax backlogs.
2. Keep a payer requirements list for your top 20 procedures.
Pull together the name of the payer, the CPT code, and the documents that you need, and review them quarterly. Having a document of requirements you can easily refer to saves time searching for what you need.
3. Build a packet checklist per payer and procedure.
Having a checklist to refer to can make for faster prior authorizations. Also, name each attachment, including clinical notes, imaging reports, lab results, prior treatment history, and operative reports.
4. Standardize packet assembly, including the attachments and cover sheets.
Having a standardized way of assembling prior authorization packets can help save staff time. An online medical fax service with an API can assemble a prior authorization packet from multiple documents, generate the cover sheet, and send it with delivery confirmation, so staff don’t have to print, collate, and re-scan documents.
5. Stop incomplete submissions before they go out.
A denial or pend for missing information adds a significant amount of time to the process and can lead to prior authorization denials that increase turnaround costs.
A fax platform with an API can combine documents into one packet, automatically build the cover page, and send the complete packet with delivery confirmation.
6. Use the fastest channel each payer accepts.
Oftentimes, faster prior authorizations lie in the channel so use ePA or API depending on what is supported by the payer. For payers that still use fax, an automated prior authorization solution can eliminate manual processes and save staff time.
7. Treat the payers’ response as urgent mail.
Prior authorization responses usually sit in shared fax queues which delay care. With Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), payer responses arrive and are instantly classified as approved, denied, or more info needed.
8. Route by outcome and file prior authorization details immediately.
To shorten prior authorization turnaround times, you need the ability to route them by outcome to the right owner and file them to the EHR. With automation, approvals are routed to scheduling, denials are routed to the appeals owner the same day, and requests for more information are routed to whoever answers them. The prior authorization number and dates are filed into the chart. Staff can also request expedited review when clinically appropriate. For Documo users, this isn’t a feature, but an action that staff must initiate.
Speed Up Prior Authorization Turnaround Times: A Quick Reference Guide
| The Fix | Delay It Improves | Level of Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Measure your side of the clock first. | Staff time | Low |
| Keep a payer requirements list for your top 20 procedures. | Searching for information | Medium |
| Build a packet checklist per payer and procedure. | Searching for information | High |
| Standardize packet assembly, including the attachments and cover sheets. | Assembling, sending, printing, collating, and rescanning | Low |
| Stop incomplete submissions before they go out. | Denials or pend for missing information | Low |
| Use the fastest channel each payer accepts. | Submissions | Low |
| Treat the payer’s response as urgent mail. | Payer responses | Low |
| Route by outcome and file prior authorization details immediately. | Routing and filing | Low |
How to Speed Up Prior Authorization With Document Automation
One of the most effective ways to shorten prior authorization turnaround time is to deploy automation. Standardizing the packet assembly with cover pages, classifying payer responses when they arrive, extracting prior authorization details, routing them to the right owner, and filing them to the EHR are all document work. Our prior authorization software and the cloud fax API automates all of these steps. Documo doesn’t log into payer portals, determine medical necessity, predict an outcome, or recommend a denial. With Documo, Eye Associates for New Mexico cut their per-document handling time from about 4 minutes to 90 seconds.
To learn more about Documo’s automated prior authorization solution, schedule a personalized walkthrough today.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much time do healthcare practices spend on prior authorizations?
The AMA survey shows practices are spending 13 hours a week, and the majority say they are delaying access to care.
Is there anything we can do to speed up prior authorization turnaround times?
Yes, submitting a complete, payer-specific packet the first time, sending it through the fastest channel each payer accepts, automatically routing the responses by outcome, and filing the prior authorization details immediately are all ways to make the process faster.
What are the results we can expect with Documo?
While each practice is different, one of our clients, Eye Associates for New Mexico, cut their per-document handling time from about 4 minutes to 90 seconds.
