10 numbers that show prior authorization is still broken

Prior authorization has drawn reform pledges, payer commitments and federal rulemaking for three years running. Inside practices, the work itself has not changed much.

Inovalon, a health care data and analytics company, surveyed more than 370 revenue cycle executives and managers in February 2026 for its report "Pain to Promise: Prior Authorization Automation That Works for Providers." Ambulatory physician practices were the largest group of respondents at 42%, followed by post-acute providers at 39% and hospitals and health systems at 16%.

What the survey describes is a process that has escaped almost every wave of automation that reshaped the rest of the revenue cycle. It costs enough time and money to register at the executive level, and it feeds directly into denied claims.