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Practice Fusion · Jul 28, 2015

Manage prior authorizations electronically from your EHR

Paper prior authorizations are a burden on your practice

Studies show that providers and staff spend over 20 hours a week completing paper prior authorizations1. Administrative complications and delayed authorizations also prevent up to 70% of patients from receiving the treatment their provider originally ordered2.

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As part of our continued effort to help improve the efficiency of your practice, we’ve digitized the prior authorization process for medications. This new feature is now available in your EHR and can help prevent unnecessary back-and-forth communication with pharmacies and health plans. If required by the patient’s health plan, prior authorization forms will automatically generate in the Tasks list.

Get started with electronic prior authorization

Similar to refill requests, your connected pharmacies will now deliver prior authorization requests electronically to expedite processing. You will continue to be notified via fax or phone by the pharmacy if prior authorizations are overdue or they are unable connect with your EHR.

Submitting prior authorizations electronically will help you:

  • Save time with pre-populated forms complete with up-to-date patient and practice information from your EHR.
  • Track the status of your prior authorizations once they’ve been submitted to a health plan.
  • Reduce prescription delays and increase medication adherence in your patients.

Here’s how it works

  • Make sure you’re verified to e-prescribe with formulary enabled, so that your EHR automatically checks for prescription health plan coverage.

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  • The prescriber will be automatically notified when our system indicates that the patient’s prescription requires prior authorization.

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  • This notification will generate a new Prior auth task in your Tasks section. Complete the form after the encounter or reassign it to a staff member for completion within 24 hours.

Use the Settings icon to adjust your settings and set up your Task list tabs to display Prior Authorization if it isn’t already visible.

Easily view outstanding prior authorization requests from pharmacies

Pharmacy generated requests will now be visible in your Tasks list, labeled with “Pharmacy” as the source. Complete these forms just as you would a physician-initiated prior authorization.

You will continue to be notified via phone or fax if prior authorizations are overdue or if a pharmacy is unable to connect with your EHR.

Your practice shouldn’t be burdened with phone tag, faxes, patient complaints, and the waiting game for prior authorization approval. Help your patients get their treatment faster with our new electronic prior authorizations.

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Sign up today for e-prescribing and charting.


  1. American Medical Association (AMA) Survey, Nov. 2010, Preauthorization Policies Impact Patient Care 

  2. FrostSullivan Study, The Impact of the Prior Authorization Process on Branded Medications