Cigna Healthcare has unveiled significant enhancements to its service by eliminating the requirement for prior authorization (or precertification) on approximately 25 percent of medical services. This move is part of the company's ongoing efforts to simplify the healthcare process for patients and healthcare professionals.
This latest development builds upon Cigna Healthcare's earlier initiatives, wherein they have already eliminated prior authorization requirements for more than 1,100 medical services since 2020. The primary objective remains to enhance the overall healthcare experience.
Prior authorization is a vital review process to uphold patient safety and bolster affordability by ensuring adherence to evidence-based care standards. With this recent update, the necessity for prior authorization has been reduced to encompass less than four percent of medical services for most of Cigna Healthcare's clientele. The company remains committed to refining and optimizing the use of prior authorization to enhance the delivery of care.
Furthermore, Cigna Healthcare plans to extend the removal of prior authorization to encompass nearly 500 additional codes for their Medicare Advantage plans later in the year. This demonstrates the company's ongoing dedication to making healthcare more accessible and streamlined for its customers while simultaneously supporting healthcare providers in delivering effective care.
VillageMD announced that it is acquiring Summit Health-CityMD, creating one of the largest independent healthcare providers in the US.
Village, MD mainly delivers primary health care services, and Summit Health-CityMD provides primary, specialty, and urgent care. The transaction is worth $8.9 billion, including investments from Walgreens Boots Alliance and Evernorth. In 2019, Summit Healthcare merged with CityMD to form Summit Health-CityMD.
The companies announced that with the acquisition, the combined company could use the value-based care of VillageMD and Summit Health-CityMD's expertise in delivering multispeciality care.
With the acquisition, VillageMD and SummitHealth-CityMD have more than 680 facilities across 26 regions.
Last year, Walgreens invested $5.2 billion Village, MD to roll out doctor staffed clinical at its pharmacies. This helped Walgreens to gain more than 60% of its stake in VillageMD.
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