To get rid of fax machines we must first standardize prior authorization

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma recently challenged healthcare providers to eliminate fax machines from physician offices by 2020, replacing them with digital health information.

To do this, the prior authorization process needs to be automated, according to an article on the Healthcare Finance website.

Ninety percent of communications between provider and payer are still done by phone or fax.

Providers could save more than $3.20 per transaction and health plans could save at least $3.64 per transaction with fully electronic prior authorizations, according to CAQH CORE (the Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange) Director Bob Bowman. The average provider is submitting 50 to 60 prior authorizations a day, he said in the article. 

Read the article.