Exclusive: Dr. Oz announces health coalition to streamline prior authorizations

A coalition of 29 major health care players is coming together to simplify the prior authorization process for medical treatments, Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said at Axios' Future of Health Summit Wednesday.

The big picture: Last summer, several top health insurers voluntary pledged to streamline and improve the prior authorization process across all health insurance markets.

Driving the news: "The payers, the insurance companies, have been playing ball. Guess who's not been playing ball until today? The providers," Oz told Axios' Caitlin Owens.

• The new coalition includes insurers, hospitals and health records companies to streamline the process for reviewing medical procedures, known as prior authorization.

Zoom out: Earlier this month, Oz wrote in a blog post that it's "way past time to axe the fax, kill the clipboard, and put patients over paperwork" via electronic prior authorization.

• And earlier this year, Medicare began AI-powered pre-treatment reviews for certain health services in an effort to root out unnecessary care in a handful of states, unnerving doctors.
• Traditional Medicare historically hasn't required prior authorization for most drugs or services, but the process became a hot-button issue in privately run Medicare Advantage plans over the administrative headache it caused doctors.

Go deeper: Dr. Oz: AI and robots can already provide medical care