National health care information clearinghouse would streamline prior authorizations while cutting administrative costs

Medical Economics April 15, 2024
Richard Payerchin

Economist discusses medical equivalent to system already used in banking to transfer money.

A national health care clearinghouse to exchange patient information could save money while smoothing out the prior authorization processes that create delays in patient care.

Administrative spending is not showing any signs of slowing down in the U.S. health care system. But there is a way to save money and improve efficiency: Create a health care automated clearinghouse to share patient data, patterned after the automated clearinghouse that banks use to exchange money.

That solution could save $50 billion a year for the U.S. health care system, said David M. Cutler, PhD, the Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics at Harvard University, and the author of “Your...

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