OpenEvidence and Tandem Partner to Streamline Prior Authorizations

Prior authorization is still one of the most expensive, time-consuming workflows in healthcare — and two AI companies just took direct aim at it. OpenEvidence and Tandem announced a strategic partnership that connects evidence-based clinical decisions directly with automated PA submission. The gap between diagnosis and treatment just got a lot shorter.

OpenEvidence runs over 1 million clinical consultations per day for verified U.S. clinicians. Its platform surfaces real-time, continuously updated medical guidelines at the point of care — the moment a physician is deciding what to prescribe. Tandem takes that decision downstream: automated prior authorization submission, appeals, affordability checks, and pharmacy routing.

The integration eliminates the handoff problem. Historically, a physician makes a treatment decision using clinical judgment, then a separate administrative workflow kicks off to get that treatment approved by the payor. Those two processes rarely talk to each other cleanly. This partnership is an attempt to make them one continuous flow.

Why This Matters for RCM

Prior authorization accounts for an estimated $13 billion in annual administrative cost across U.S. health systems. Most of that cost is labor — staff navigating payor portals, chasing documentation, managing denials. Automating the clinical-to-administrative handoff doesn't just save time. It removes a failure point that generates denials.