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AI AgentWorkforce Operations

Prior Authorization Agent

Determines auth requirements, assembles requests against payer rules, tracks status, and drafts appeals — running entirely inside your infrastructure.

The Prior Authorization Agent is an autonomous AI agent that determines when an order needs prior authorization, assembles the request with the right clinical evidence, submits it, and tracks it to a decision.

It reasons over the order, the chart, and current payer rules, and escalates only the cases that need a human, instead of staff working a fax queue.

This is not a rules-lookup chatbot. It is an active agent that checks, submits, follows up, and appeals — deployed air-gapped or on-premise so PHI never leaves your environment.

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AI Agent vs. Chatbot

An auth chatbot tells you whether a code usually needs prior auth. The Prior Authorization Agent checks the specific payer's rules, assembles the request with evidence, submits it, tracks status, and drafts appeals — autonomously.

Dimension
Chatbot
AI Agent
Execution
States whether a procedure typically needs auth
Builds and submits the actual request with attached clinical evidence, then tracks it
Initiative
Responds only when asked
Monitors new orders and initiates the auth workflow before the visit when possible
Memory
No recall of prior auths or payer behavior
Tracks auth history, payer turnaround, and denial reasons across time
Tools & APIs
Cannot reach payers or the EHR
Queries the EHR and payer portals/Availity, submits requests, and writes status back
Data Control
PHI leaves your environment to a SaaS
Runs air-gapped or on-premise; PHI never leaves your infrastructure
Model Flexibility
Locked to one vendor's model
Model-agnostic — Claude, GPT, Gemini, Llama, Mistral, or a fine-tuned model
Compliance
No audit trail of submissions
Logs every check, submission, and decision to an immutable trail for audits
Autonomy
A human drives every step
Runs a continuous check-assemble-submit-track-appeal cycle without prompting

The Prior Authorization Agent is a true AI agent that goes beyond simple Q&A. It reasons, plans, and executes multi-step workflows autonomously while you retain full code ownership and infrastructure control.

Capabilities

Auth Requirement Determination

Reads each order and checks whether the specific payer and plan require prior authorization for that service.

When a flagged order is placed, the agent confirms the requirement against the patient's plan and starts the request without waiting for staff.

Evidence Assembly

Pulls the clinical documentation a payer requires — notes, labs, prior treatments — and assembles a complete request package.

Gathers the supporting evidence from the chart and attaches it to the request, matched to the payer's medical-necessity criteria.

Submission & Status Tracking

Submits requests through payer portals or clearinghouses and tracks each to approval, denial, or pended status.

Submits, polls for status, and updates the EHR and scheduling so staff and patients know where each auth stands.

Appeal Drafting

When a request is denied, drafts an appeal citing the payer's own criteria and the supporting documentation.

Generates a ready-to-review appeal within the appeal window, flagging the specific denial reason it addresses.

Payer Rule Monitoring

Keeps current with changing payer authorization policies and code lists.

Updates its logic when a payer changes auth requirements and re-checks pending orders affected by the change.

How It Works

Step 1

Receive — Detect the Order

The agent monitors new orders and referrals, pulling the patient's plan and the relevant clinical context from the EHR.

Step 2

Reason — Check Requirements

It checks payer- and plan-specific rules to decide whether authorization is required and what evidence the payer needs.

Step 3

Act — Assemble and Submit

The agent assembles the request with supporting documentation, submits it through the payer channel, and updates the EHR and schedule.

Step 4

Evaluate — Track and Appeal

It tracks the request to a decision, drafts an appeal on denial, and learns from denial reasons to strengthen future requests.

Step 5

Report — Surface Status & Trends

The agent maintains an audit trail and reports approval rates, turnaround times, and payer-specific denial patterns.

Use Cases

A health system delays procedures waiting on manual prior auth. The agent initiates and tracks auths the moment orders are placed.

Hospital & Health Systems

Reduced auth turnaround time and procedure delays while keeping PHI on-premise.

High-cost specialty drugs and imaging carry heavy auth burden and denial risk. The agent assembles evidence-rich requests per payer.

Specialty Clinics (Oncology, Cardiology)

Raised first-submission approval rates and cut peer-to-peer escalations.

Advanced imaging frequently requires auth with strict criteria. The agent checks requirements and submits with the right documentation.

Imaging & Radiology

Reduced same-day cancellations from missing authorizations.

An RCM team manages auths across many practices. The agent standardizes the workflow and tracks status centrally.

Revenue Cycle Management

Scaled auth volume per FTE and reduced auth-related denials.

Ongoing therapy requires recurring auths that are easy to miss. The agent tracks expirations and re-authorizes proactively.

Behavioral & Mental Health

Eliminated lapses in authorized care and the associated write-offs.

Integrations

Epic

Reads orders and clinical evidence from Epic and writes authorization status back to the chart and schedule.

Oracle Health (Cerner)

Pulls orders and documentation from Oracle Health and updates auth status in the workflow.

Availity & Payer Portals

Submits and tracks authorization requests through Availity and payer portals, polling for decisions.

athenahealth

Initiates and tracks authorizations within athenahealth's ambulatory workflow.

Clearinghouses

Routes electronic auth transactions and ingests responses to update status automatically.

Scheduling Systems

Holds or releases scheduling based on authorization status to prevent unauthorized-care cancellations.

Deployment & Ownership

Full Source Code Ownership

You receive the complete codebase and operate the authorization workflow permanently, with no black-box SaaS dependency.

Air-Gapped & On-Premise Deployment

Deploy entirely within your own infrastructure so PHI never leaves your perimeter.

Any Cloud, Any Infrastructure

Run on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or your own data centers. ibl.ai is a certified partner of all three hyperscalers.

Model-Agnostic Architecture

Choose and swap the underlying model without rebuilding your authorization workflows.

Zero Telemetry, Complete Audit Trail

No patient data is sent to ibl.ai. Every check, submission, and decision is logged to your own immutable audit trail.

ROI & Impact

50%+
Auth Turnaround Reduction

Proactive, automated submission cuts the time from order to authorization by more than half.

+25%
First-Submission Approval Rate

Evidence-rich, criteria-matched requests raise first-pass approval rates.

significant
Procedure Cancellation Reduction

Tracking auths to completion before the visit reduces same-day cancellations from missing authorizations.

60%
Staff Hours Reclaimed

Automating checks, submissions, and follow-ups frees auth staff for exceptions and patient communication.

~10x cheaper
Licensing Cost vs. Per-Seat Tools

Enterprise-wide flat-fee licensing eliminates per-seat authorization SaaS pricing.

Frequently Asked Questions

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