Prior authorization’s impact on patients
Facts at your fingertips
By Emily Margosian, assistant editor, September 1, 2020
While prior authorizations are often applied to biologics, the process also includes less expensive medication options and procedures, with a profound impact on many dermatology patients. Results from the AAD’s 2020 Prior Authorization Survey reveal that about one-quarter of patients’ medications and/or procedures require prior authorizations, with only half achieving success. Of those patients who do not receive approval for their requested treatment, 36% are forced to use a less appropriate treatment, with 27% delaying or abandoning treatment altogether.
Survey results also show that half of patients seeking prior authorizations for biologics must wait for more than two weeks for an answer, with some waiting for more than a month. Furthermore, the prior authorization process disrupts in-person patient care, with six in 10 dermatologists reporting having to interrupt patient visits to respond to prior authorization declines.
How can physicians take some of the pain out of prior authorizations? The Academy’s popular online letter generator allows dermatologists to easily create appeal letters to overturn denials for prior authorizations.
To learn which dermatologic drugs and procedures most commonly require prior authorizations, see the graphic below.
