Surescripts®, the nation's leading health intelligence network, today announced a major expansion of its Touchless Prior Authorization technology, now reaching more than 76,000 prescribers across the country. Since launching earlier this year, the product has grown to support more than 70 medications—and that number continues to rise as additional therapies are added. This milestone marks a transformative shift in how prior authorizations for medications are handled—automating a historically manual process to accelerate time to therapy and minimize treatment delays.

Touchless Prior Authorization is live across leading health systems, including:

• Cleveland Clinic
• Fairview Health Services
• Garnet Health
• The Ohio State University Medical Center
• UNC Health
• Watson Clinic

“Momentum is building across the industry,” said Frank Harvey, Chief Executive Officer for Surescripts. “Since launching this year, and with tens of thousands of prescribers already on board, Touchless Prior Authorization is proving that we can eliminate the friction in medication access and deliver real-time, high-quality care at scale.”

Prior authorization is meant to protect patient safety and support cost-effective care, but manual processes often delay treatment and frustrate patients and providers alike. Touchless Prior Authorization automates the process by pulling clinical data from the electronic health record and sending it to the pharmacy benefit manager allowing approvals to happen quickly and patients to start medication sooner, with less work for everyone.

“This is more than automation—it’s transformation,” said Tara Dragert, Chief Product Officer for Surescripts. “Touchless Prior Authorization has already grown to support more than 70 medications since its launch, and we’re continuing to expand its reach to additional therapies. This technology ensures patients can quickly access the safe, quality care they need and deserve, while significantly reducing barriers to treatment.”

Health systems and the results speak for themselves:

• 22 seconds median approval time for in-scope medications¹
• 88% fewer appeals during pilot programs²
• 68% fewer denials due to missing information³

“The traditional prior authorization process can be slow, difficult to manage, and often leads to treatment delays,” said Christine Carmichael, Financial Access Service Manager for Fairview Health Services. “Every delay adds stress for patients and frustration for providers. We’ve implemented technology-driven improvements to streamline prior authorizations and allow clinicians to focus on what matters most delivering care.”

“When prior authorization takes time to complete, it can lead to delays in treatments and creates frustration for providers and patients alike,” said Angela Odham, System Executive Director for UNC Health. “We saw an opportunity to change that and became an early adopter of Touchless Prior Authorization, which has helped our patients start treatment faster and allowed clinicians to focus on care.”

"Trading the historically burdensome prior authorization process for a fast and seamless experience that is centered on patient care was an easy decision," said Dr. Joseph Chavez Carey, Medical Director for Primary Care at Garnet Health Doctors. “Touchless Prior Authorization is a clear example of how smart technology can drive meaningful change in healthcare delivery.”

Manual prior authorization processes still dominate across much of the industry. In a recent survey, more than half of prescribers said prior authorization delays or denials for prescriptions are a major challenge in their day-to-day work. One in five selected a task related to prescription prior authorizations as the biggest daily challenge they face.

Learn more about how Touchless Prior Authorization is transforming care at Surescripts at HLTH 2025 – October 19–22, Las Vegas, NV.

Stop by Booth #2318 to explore how we’re collaborating across healthcare, bringing innovative technology to care providers, delivering real-time insights and automating processes to help keep patient care on track.

About Surescripts

Our purpose is to serve the nation through simpler, trusted health intelligence sharing, in order to increase patient safety, lower costs and ensure quality care. At Surescripts, we bring healthcare together to inform and accelerate decisions, helping keep patient care on track. With the Surescripts Network Alliance®, we’re empowering the healthcare ecosystem with intelligence and interoperability for smarter, faster prescribing, prior authorization, treatment, care management and more. Visit us at surescripts.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

¹ Surescripts network data, January 2025 through October 2025.

² KLAS Research K2 Collaborative, "Case Study: Leveraging Innovative Technology to Streamline Medication Prior Authorizations," September 2024, p. 3.

³ KLAS Research K2 Collaborative, "Case Study: Leveraging Innovative Technology to Streamline Medication Prior Authorizations,” p. 3.

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“With tens of thousands of prescribers already on board, Touchless Prior Authorization is proving that we can eliminate the friction in medication access and deliver real-time, high-quality care at scale,” said Frank Harvey, CEO for Surescripts.