How much staff time is manual prior auth eating?

Estimate the hours and labor dollars your team spends on prior authorization today — and how much automation could give back. Free, instant, runs in your browser. No email required.

Your numbers

Drag the sliders to match your operation. Rough estimates are fine — the goal is the order of magnitude.

Authorizations your team submits and tracks each month.
Gathering docs, submitting on portals, and following up. Often 15-30 min.
Wage plus benefits/overhead per hour.
Share of manual time automation removes. Typically 50-70%.

What automation gives back

Updates as you type. Conservative by design.

Estimated annual labor reclaimed
$0
staff cost freed from manual prior auth
Current time on prior authStaff hours per year, today
0 hrs
Current labor costAnnual, at your hourly rate
$0
Hours reclaimedPer year, with automation
0 hrs
That's roughly
0.0 FTE
of staff capacity returned to higher-value work (1 FTE ≈ 2,080 hrs/yr)
See Prior Auth automation →

These figures are directional estimates based on your inputs and typical industry benchmarks — not a guarantee or a quote. Actual savings depend on payer mix, EHR, and which steps you automate. Use this to size the opportunity, then book a consult for your real numbers.

How this is calculated

No black box — here is exactly what the calculator does.

Current time
Prior auths/month × minutes each × 12, converted to hours. The staff time manual auth consumes.
Current cost
Those hours × your loaded hourly rate. The payroll spent on portal-and-fax paperwork.
Reclaimed
Current hours × your automation-reduction percentage, then × hourly rate for the dollar value.
Not counted
Faster approvals, fewer abandoned orders, and fewer denials — real gains we leave out to stay conservative.

Turn reclaimed hours into a real plan

The calculator sizes the opportunity. SynergyIQ's prior-auth automation auto-populates payer forms, submits electronically, and tracks status — so your team handles only the exceptions. See how it works, or get a scoped quote.

Prior Auth Tracking → Book a free consult

Frequently asked questions

How much staff time does manual prior authorization take?

It varies by payer and service, but practices commonly spend 15-30 minutes of staff time per prior authorization when handled manually — gathering documentation, submitting through payer portals, and following up. Across a few hundred a month, that easily becomes one or more full-time roles spent on paperwork.

How much of prior authorization can be automated?

Automation typically removes 50-70% of the manual time by auto-populating payer forms from the EHR, submitting electronically, and tracking status — leaving staff to handle only the exceptions. The calculator defaults to a conservative reduction so the savings shown are a realistic floor.

Does prior authorization automation speed up approvals?

Usually, yes. Electronic prior authorization integrated with the EHR can auto-populate payer forms, submit directly, and return status in real time, enabling same-day approvals on routine requests — which means faster scheduling, faster delivery, and fewer abandoned orders.

Is the calculator free and private?

Yes. It runs entirely in your browser — no numbers are sent anywhere and no email is required to see your result.

Add this calculator to your site — free

Publish for clinics and DME intake teams? Embed the live Prior-Authorization Time-Savings Calculator or link to it. It's free, needs no login, and runs entirely in the visitor's browser.

Embed the live tool

Paste anywhere on your site. The ?embed=1 version drops our site nav for a clean fit, and it ships with a required attribution link.

Or just link to it

Prefer a simple citation? Copy this link with ready-made anchor text.

Cite: SynergyIQ. “Prior-Authorization Time-Savings Calculator.” synergyiq.net

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