New Surescripts Survey Reveals Prescriber and Pharmacist Frustrations with Prior Authorization, Raising Concerns About Impact on Patient Access to Care

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Surescripts^®, the nation's leading health intelligence network, has released a new survey revealing widespread frustration among prescribers and pharmacists over prior authorization requirements, which they say delay treatment and can harm patients. Despite these concerns, clinicians also express optimism about using innovative technology to eliminate barriers and improve access to timely, effective treatment.

“These insights are compelling and reinforce the need for continued collaboration across healthcare to deliver innovations that can meaningfully improve care for patients,” said Andrew Mellin, M.D., VP & Chief Medical Information Officer at Surescripts.

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Report: Healthcare Professionals Highlight Medication Prior Authorization Challenges & Solutions

“Prescribers and pharmacists continue to feel the burden of administrative tasks like prior authorizations. They share a nearly universal concern about the typical prior authorization process which is especially alarming because they say it is contributing to patient harm, delaying treatment or worse, causes patients to abandon treatment altogether,” said Frank Harvey, Chief Executive Officer for Surescripts. “It’s promising to see that despite this, clinicians are overwhelmingly open to adopting real-time, tech-enabled solutions that streamline the prior authorization process to get patients the care they need, when they need it. At Surescripts, we remain committed to uniting healthcare stakeholders to accelerate smarter decisions and keep patient care on track.”

The survey also showed a growing consensus among healthcare leaders that the current system is unsustainable—and that innovation is urgently needed.

“The results of this clinician survey underpin what we’ve known--healthcare is facing a crisis and care providers continue to raise concerns around the administrative burdens they face in order to provide the best care possible for their patients,” said Andrew Mellin, M.D., Vice President, Chief Medical Information Officer at Surescripts. “These insights are compelling and reinforce the need for continued collaboration across healthcare to deliver innovations that can meaningfully improve care for patients.”

When clinicians were asked what they would do with one extra hour per week, most prescribers and pharmacists said they would spend it providing direct patient care.

Report Highlights

• Clinicians indicate that prior authorizations stoke burnout, and many cite the related administrative tasks as the biggest challenge they face each day:
  • 94% of pharmacists and prescribers said the prior authorization process for medications increases burnout.
  • More than half of prescribers said prior authorization delays or denials for prescriptions are a major challenge in their day-to-day work, and one in five said the related tasks are the most significant challenge they face each day.
  • 81% of pharmacists named the difficulty of getting a response from the prescriber as a key challenge. (Typically, the prescriber or their staff must initiate prior authorization before a prescription can be filled.)
    
    
• Clinicians are intensely concerned about the negative impact prior authorizations may have on patient care:
  • 87% of pharmacists and 89% of prescribers said that prior authorization requirements negatively impact health outcomes for patients.
  • 88% of pharmacists and 70% of prescribers said the process often or always delays treatment for patients.
  • Nearly half of prescribers said prior authorization requirements often prevent them from prescribing a medication their patients need.
  • Nearly half of pharmacists and 4 in 10 prescribers said that the process often leads patients to abandon treatment.
    
    
• Prescribers are eager to use innovative technology to improve care delivery and believe patients will benefit:
  • 94% of prescribers saw benefits related to being able to obtain prior authorization for medications electronically in real time, at the point of care, and 91% of prescribers said they were open to adopting this type of solution.
  • 92% of prescribers said that being able to electronically process prior authorizations for prescriptions (whether automatically or just by using an EHR-integrated solution) would help their patient interactions.

Surescripts partnered with APCO Insight™ to conduct a survey between May 28 and June 16, 2025, to understand the opinions and attitudes of pharmacists and prescribers (including physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners) on a variety of topics around the healthcare industry including impressions of the wider industry, job priorities and challenges, challenges with prior authorization, and interest in prior authorization solutions. A total of 503 individuals completed the online survey.

About Surescripts

Our purpose is to serve the nation through simpler, trusted health intelligence sharing, in order to increase patient safety, lower costs and ensure quality care. At Surescripts, we bring healthcare together to inform and accelerate decisions, helping keep patient care on track. With the Surescripts Network Alliance^®, we’re empowering the healthcare ecosystem with intelligence and interoperability for smarter, faster prescribing, prior authorization, treatment, care management and more. Visit us at surescripts.com and follow us on LinkedIn.