While health insurers claim prior-authorization requirements are used for cost and quality control, a vast majority of physicians say authorization protocols lead to unnecessary waste and avoidable patient harm.

One-third of the 1,001 physicians surveyed by the AMA in December reported that prior authorization has led to a serious adverse event for a patient in their care.

More specifically, the AMA survey found that these shares of the physician respondents reported that prior authorization led to:

• A patient’s hospitalization—25%.
• A life-threatening event or one that required intervention to prevent permanent impairment or damage—19%.
• A patient’s disability or permanent bodily damage, congenital anomaly or birth defect, or death—9%.

My latest for the AMA. The whole shebang.