# Can an AI agent cut prior authorization handling time?

> MIT Health, MIT's campus health center, embedded Notable's Sidekick assistive AI agent into prior-authorization submissions to the Carelon portal; it pre-assembles clinical packets and answers payer questions from the chart. Notable reports authorizations now average about 6 minutes, an estimated 45% reduction from ~11 minutes, across 750+ runs.

- **Evidence grade:** B — Named organization with a quantified outcome, from the vendor or the organization's own announcement.
- **Organization:** MIT Health (campus health center)
- **Industry:** Hospitals & Health Systems — Campus health center
- **Roles:** Revenue Cycle & Prior Auth
- **Tools:** Sidekick AI Co-pilot (Notable)
- **Status:** production · **Agent pattern:** copilot · **Autonomy:** 1/4
- **Last verified:** 2026-10-17

## Reported outcomes
- prior auth handling time: ~6 minutes vs ~11 minutes (estimated 45% reduction) [1] (self-reported)
- volume: flow has run more than 750 times since go-live [1] (self-reported)

## How it works
1. Puts relevant orders and chart context in one place.
2. Pre-assembles the clinical packet for the payer.
3. Answers payer clinical questions using context from the patient's chart.
4. Errors (e.g., missing allergies) create human tasks with clear instructions.

## Risks & compliance
- PHI
- Clinical answers to payer questions should be reviewed by staff

## Notes
- Figure applies 'when all information is available', per the source.

## Sources
1. Notable, "MIT Health cut prior auth time in half with AI" (2026-06-09) <https://www.notablehealth.com/customer-stories/mit-health-cut-prior-auth-time-in-half-with-ai>
   > "A Sidekick-supported authorization can be completed in an average of 6 minutes, an estimated 45% reduction from the previous average ~11-minute handling time, when all information is available."

Canonical: https://agentcasefile.com/cases/mit-health-notable-prior-authorization/ · License: CC BY 4.0 (summary) · Source: Agent Casefile