They automated denials.
We automate approvals.

PA Sherpa reads the payer's published policy, tells you exactly what documentation they require before you submit, and drafts the appeal if they deny anyway. Built and priced for independent specialty practices.

The demo runs on simulated data. No real patient information.

40
PAs per physician, every week
13 hrs
Of staff + physician time weekly
80.7%
Of appealed denials are overturned
11.5%
Of denials are ever appealed

Sources: AMA Prior Authorization Physician Survey (2025), KFF Medicare Advantage Analysis (2024), CAQH Index (2024), MGMA Regulatory Burden Report (2026)

Most denials aren't medical decisions.
They're paperwork failures.

CMS's own data says the top reason denials get overturned is documentation that wasn't supplied at initial review. The medicine was right. The paperwork wasn't.

63%
of physicians can't easily tell whether a drug even needs a PA
62%
say the same for medical services and procedures
24%
have electronic PA in their EHR at all
How a denial actually happens

A knee replacement gets denied. Not because the knee wasn't bad enough, but because the note said "severe joint-space narrowing" instead of the three words the payer's policy required: "bone on bone." Same knee. Same evidence. Wrong words.

An illustrative composite: the kind of denial practices see every week.

PA Sherpa retrieves the payer's published medical policy and shows you the exact criteria, as a checklist cited to the policy itself, before you submit. So the note says what the reviewer is required to look for.

Your staff spends more time on paperwork
than patient care

Prior authorization is the most hated process in healthcare. Insurance companies require pre-approval for procedures, and the burden falls entirely on medical practices.

Phone, Fax, and Four Portals

Forty PAs per physician, every week, across phone holds, fax machines, and payer-specific portals. It's so much work that 40% of practices now have staff who do nothing else (AMA, 2025). A manual PA costs $12.88 and 24 minutes; electronic runs $5.38 and 10 (CAQH, 2024).

Patients Left in the Dark

Patients call the office every 2 days asking "was my MRI approved?" Your front desk becomes a human status tracker. Meanwhile, 95% of physicians report PA delaying necessary care (AMA, 2025).

Denials You Were Never Going to Lose

80.7% of appealed denials are overturned (KFF, 2024), yet only 21% of physicians always appeal, citing futility and staff time. That's procedure revenue left on the table, and it's a big reason 94% say PA drives burnout (AMA, 2025).

PA Sherpa: four capabilities, one platform

Everything your practice needs to submit, track, and win prior authorizations, grounded in the payers' own published medical policies, not generic AI.

01

Know the Requirements Before You Submit

PA Sherpa retrieves the payer's published medical policy for your procedure and turns it into a documentation checklist. Procedures, imaging, and services, not just drugs.

  • Payer-specific criteria, cited to the policy document
  • Question-by-question worksheet a reviewer would use
  • Documentation gaps flagged before submission
  • Continuously refreshed as payers update policies
02

Smart PA Submission

Enter patient and procedure info once. The AI scores approval likelihood and suggests clinical language that matches what the payer's criteria actually require.

  • AI-generated approval likelihood score
  • Auto-detected missing clinical documentation
  • Suggested language matched to payer criteria
  • One unified workflow for all payers
03

Real-Time Patient Tracker

The status page insurance never built. Give patients a simple link to check their PA anytime. No login, no phone calls to your office.

  • Unique tracking URL per patient
  • Visual timeline of every status change
  • SMS and email notifications on updates
  • Plain-language explanations (no insurance jargon)
04

AI Appeals with Verified Citations

Denied anyway? One click drafts the appeal letter and a peer-to-peer prep brief, and every policy citation is verified against the source before you send it.

  • One-click appeal letter generation
  • Citations checked word-for-word against the policy
  • Peer-to-peer talking points for physicians
  • Clinical guideline citations (ACC, AHA, NCCN)

From hours of busywork to minutes

PA Sherpa replaces your Excel spreadsheet, your fax machine, and your "on hold with Aetna" playlist.

1

Enter the basics

Patient info, diagnosis, and procedure. That's it. Our guided form handles the rest.

2

AI optimizes

PA Sherpa checks the payer's published policy and builds your documentation checklist, with gaps flagged before anything is submitted.

3

Submit & track

One click to submit. Real-time status updates for your team and patients.

4

Appeal if needed

Denied? AI generates your appeal letter with clinical citations in under 30 seconds.

The math payers are counting on

In Medicare Advantage alone, insurers made 52.8 million PA determinations in one year. Follow what happens to the denials:

7.7%
of requests are denied
11.5%
of those denials are ever appealed
80.7%
of appeals are won by the practice
96%
of biologic PAs are eventually approved, after a median fight of 31 to 50 days

The denials mostly don't survive scrutiny. The system works because fighting back costs staff time you don't have. 59% of physicians who skip appeals cite futility; 52% cite staffing. When the appeal takes one click instead of one afternoon, the math flips to your side.

Sources: KFF Medicare Advantage Analysis (2024), AMA Prior Authorization Physician Survey (2025), Arthritis Care & Research

CMS is on your side

The CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule (CMS-0057-F) already mandates faster PA decision times as of January 2026, and requires payers to support standardized FHIR APIs for electronic PA submission by January 2027.

But read the fine print: the rule doesn't cover drugs or commercial plans. Most of your PA volume isn't waiting on Washington. That's the reason to fix your workflow now, not in 2027.

We're building on FHIR R4 and Da Vinci PAS standards now, so your practice is ready the moment payers are required to connect, and covered where the rule doesn't reach.

What's changing

Jan 2026: Payers must respond to expedited PAs within 72 hours, standard within 7 days
Jan 2027: Payers must support FHIR-based electronic PA submission via standardized APIs
Ongoing: Denial reason transparency and real-time status reporting requirements

Built for the practices enterprise vendors ignore

Every meaningful PA vendor sells to health systems and health plans: enterprise contracts, no published pricing, and drug-only scope that leaves your MRIs, injections, and procedures on their own. Among practices like yours, 90% say PA burden rose in just the last year, and 92% had to hire or redistribute staff to cope (MGMA, 2026). Nobody built for you. We did.

Right-sized

Enterprise PA tools cost $50K+ and take 6 months to implement. PA Sherpa is live in a day, with published pricing and self-serve onboarding at beta launch, because a 3-physician practice deserves a price tag it can see.

Specialty-aware

Our AI understands the clinical guidelines, CPT codes, and payer requirements specific to your specialty.

Cardiology Rheumatology Oncology Neurology Orthopedics

No IT department needed

Cloud-based, works in any browser. No hardware, no EHR integration required to start. Just log in and submit your first PA.

Stop losing hours to prior auth

Now onboarding Atlanta-area beta practices. Founding practices get free access, a direct line to the founder, and a real say in shaping the product.

Free for beta practices. No credit card required.