“In addition to the steps we are taking to further reduce the overall number of medical prior authorizations by 30% or more by the end of this year.”

In context

“reserving stability for the millions of seniors who rely on MA and toward ensuring this vital program's long-term sustainability. Turning now to our efforts to improve the patient and clinician experience when they engage with us, starting with prior authorization. Prior authorization remains a critically important tool for eliminating fraud, waste and abuse and for helping ensure patient safety and quality care. We also recognize it is a source of frustration, and we are working to reduce that. Nearly 95% of prior authorization requests are now submitted electronically. About 50% of those are processed in real time, and more than 90% are approved on average in 1 business day. We are working to enable more prior authorization submissions to be made directly within care provider workflows. In addition to the steps we are taking to further reduce the overall number of medical prior authorizations by 30% or more by the end of this year. Member adoption of UHC AI-powered digital tools continues to grow. Almost half of all members are now registered for and using UHC digital access. We saw 73 million digital visits in Q1, up 42% over the last 2 years, reflecting sustained and growing engagement with our digital platform. Digital self-service is now the primary way members interact with us, with over 80% of consumer contacts through digital formats and an NPS in the top quartile of the industry. For care providers, digital channels continue to grow, with transaction volumes up 75% year-over-year and about 75% of in-network providers using our portal or API tools. This improves real-time access to eligibility, benefits and claims status while reducing manual outreach, enabling clinicians to spend more time on caring for pati”