Prior authorization in Veradigm, the company formerly known as Allscripts, runs through more than one product. Prescription PAs go through Veradigm eAUTH, the electronic prior authorization (ePA) built into Veradigm ePrescribe, while medical-benefit authorizations run through payer portals or Veradigm's Payerpath clearinghouse.

Getting the workflow right matters. The 2025 AMA Prior Authorization Physician Survey found physicians complete an average of 40 prior authorizations per week, consuming 13 hours of physician and staff time, and 32% say requests are often or always denied.

This guide breaks down the four ways Veradigm practices get PAs done: what each covers, where each stops, and how to combine them.

First, Which Veradigm Product Are You On?

"Veradigm" covers several products, and each handles PAs a little differently.

On Allscripts TouchWorks, Sunrise or Paragon? Those products became part of Altera Digital Health in May 2022, and this guide doesn't cover them.

Across all of them, the split that matters is pharmacy versus medical benefit: prescriptions run through Options 1, 2 and 4, while referrals, imaging and procedures run through Option 3.

The 4 Ways to Do Prior Authorizations in Veradigm

Option 1: Veradigm eAUTH in ePrescribe (Native ePA)

Veradigm eAUTH is the electronic prior authorization built into the Veradigm ePrescribe workflow. Allscripts partnered with CoverMyMeds in 2015 to extend eAuth to more health plans.

eAUTH sits next to RxTruePrice, which shows patient-specific prices, therapeutic alternatives and pharmacy options while you prescribe. In a 2019 Veradigm user survey, prescribers said patients saved on out-of-pocket costs 93% of the time they used it.

How to submit an ePA in Veradigm ePrescribe (per Veradigm's eAuth FAQ):

1. Write the prescription as usual. If the drug needs a PA, an "ePA" icon appears on the destination screen.
   
   

2. Select "Send ePA Request" from the destination drop-down.
   
   

3. Open Tasks, then ePA tasks, and look for the status "ePA Form Available."
   
   

4. Answer the payer's question form and click Submit.
   
   

5. Once the status reads "ePA Approved," send the prescription to the pharmacy or mail order, or print it.

Question forms usually arrive within 24 hours and stay open for about 72 hours, weekends included. Assign one person to check ePA tasks every day so forms don't lapse.

Veradigm has also offered AccelRx, a free specialty-drug enrollment tool with ePA, but its page still cites 2021-era data, so check it's still available.

Best for: Practices on Veradigm ePrescribe, standalone or embedded, with routine pharmacy-benefit PA volume.

Where it stops:

• Manual answers: staff still read the chart and answer every question form.
  
  

• Expiring forms: unanswered forms lapse after about 72 hours.
  
  

• Denials end at a note: the FAQ points to denial reasons in the Notes field, not a built-in appeal workflow.
  
  

• Prescriptions only: medical-benefit auths need Option 3.
  
  

• Veradigm EHR users: confirm with your rep whether eAUTH is enabled in your version.

Option 2: CoverMyMeds (Pharmacy-Initiated Requests)

When a pharmacy hits a PA rejection, it usually starts the request in CoverMyMeds. Your office receives a fax key or, once prescribers are verified, a request in your CoverMyMeds dashboard. The portal is free for prescribers and their staff, and it works for any medication and all plans.

For Veradigm practices, it's the backstop for requests that never start in eAUTH. Rely on it as little as you can: CoverMyMeds' own research found patients access medications 13.2 days sooner on average when PAs begin at the provider's office instead of after a pharmacy rejection.

Best for: Catching pharmacy-initiated requests at no cost.

Where it stops: Depending on your setup, pharmacy-initiated requests may live only in the CoverMyMeds portal, so check before assuming one queue covers everything. It's also a transmission layer: your team still answers questions, gathers evidence, chases determinations and works denials.

Option 3: Veradigm Payerpath (Medical-Benefit PAs)

For referrals, imaging and procedures, eAUTH doesn't apply. Veradigm's answer is Payerpath, its revenue cycle and clearinghouse platform. Veradigm positions Payerpath to connect practices to the Prior Authorization APIs payers must build under the CMS-0057-F rule, so staff can submit electronic medical PAs as each payer comes online.

Payerpath also sends electronic attachments with requests through a Jopari-powered attachment solution. Veradigm reports that clients saw:

• Denials due to missing attachments fall from 35% to 5%
  
  

• Requests for more information fall from 25% to 5%
  
  

• Appeals due to missing attachments drop 80%

On the payer side, the CMS rule has required Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and CHIP plans to decide medical PAs within 72 hours (urgent) or 7 days (standard) since January 2026. It excludes drugs entirely.

Best for: Veradigm practices with meaningful referral, imaging and procedure auth volume, especially those already billing through Payerpath.

Where it stops: It's a separate Veradigm product from the EHR and ePrescribe. Electronic submission depends on each payer's API readiness, and staff still assemble the clinical documentation.

Option 4: AI-Native Automation via API (Develop Health)

Develop Health is an AI platform that automates the full pharmacy-benefit PA cycle, from benefit verification through appeals. It works alongside Veradigm through two sets of APIs. On the Veradigm side, Veradigm Connect offers FHIR and Unity APIs, sandboxes and a partner certification program. On the Develop side, a REST API handles benefit verification and PA requests. Your engineering team or an integration partner connects them:

1. A prescription event in Veradigm triggers a benefit verification or PA request to Develop Health, with chart notes and labs attached as evidence.
   
   

2. Develop Health prepares the PA and either submits it and handles payer follow-up for you (delegated) or sends your reviewer a link to approve it first (non-delegated).
   
   

3. Webhooks push every status change back, so determinations land wherever your team already works.

Providers keep prescribing as usual, and because the connection runs on documented APIs rather than screen bots, it doesn't break when Veradigm's interface changes.

What it automates that the options above don't:

• Coverage checks up front: real-time benefit verification returns coverage, PA requirements and out-of-pocket cost before the prescription reaches the pharmacy.
  
  

• Answers without manual chart review: AI pulls supporting clinicals from historical notes and labs, then fills payer question sets with cited documentation.
  
  

• No forms waiting in a task list: in the delegated workflow, Develop Health handles payer follow-up, so question sets don't sit until someone checks.
  
  

• Coverage beyond ePA rails: ePA where rails exist, AI phone calls and fax where they don't, with human fallback.
  
  

• The other half of the process: denial-reason analysis, AI-generated appeal letters and resubmission.

Develop Health reports an 83% reduction in medication-access admin work across hundreds of thousands of patients per month, plus a 14% lift in approval rates and prescription-to-approval cycle times cut from about 1.5 weeks to roughly 20 hours. In one case study, Arches Primary Care processed about 800 prior authorizations in six weeks, cutting turnaround from weeks to two days.

Pricing: Small per PA or per provider fee; free if sponsored by pharmacy or manufacturer.

Best for: Veradigm organizations with high specialty-medication PA volume (GLP-1s, biologics) and the technical capacity to connect an API.

Where it stops: It focuses on pharmacy-benefit PAs, so referral and imaging auths stay with Option 3.

Side-by-Side: PA Options in Veradigm

Automate the PAs Veradigm's Native Tools Can't

eAUTH is the right place to start for any practice on Veradigm ePrescribe. But the PA work that burns the most staff hours (answering question forms from the chart, chasing forms before they lapse, denials and appeals) still sits with your team. 

Develop Health automates that complete pharmacy-benefit cycle through an API that works alongside Veradigm, with no change to how providers prescribe. Book a demo to see how it fits your workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Veradigm have electronic prior authorization?

Yes, for prescriptions. Veradigm eAUTH is built into Veradigm ePrescribe, standalone and embedded. When a drug needs a PA, an "ePA" icon appears and requests are managed under ePA tasks.

Is Veradigm the same as Allscripts?

Mostly. Allscripts moved its EHR, practice management and patient engagement products to the Veradigm brand in 2022. The exception is Allscripts' hospital and large-practice products, including TouchWorks, Sunrise and Paragon, which were sold in 2022 and now operate as Altera Digital Health.

How long does a Veradigm ePA take?

Often less than a day. Veradigm's eAuth FAQ says payer question forms usually arrive within 24 hours, and answered forms get a decision in under 5 minutes on average. Forms stay open for about 72 hours, so most delays come from forms waiting to be answered.

Does ePA cost extra in Veradigm ePrescribe?

No. Veradigm lists electronic prior authorization as included in Veradigm ePrescribe, which starts at $59 per prescriber per month. CoverMyMeds is also free for prescribers and their staff.

Can third-party prior authorization tools connect to Veradigm?

Yes. Veradigm Connect gives developers an open portal with FHIR and Unity APIs, sandboxes and a certification program. API-first platforms like Develop Health expose REST endpoints and webhooks that your team or an integration partner connects to Veradigm.