Highmark Health, Abridge Announce Collaboration to Deploy AI Technologies Across an Entire Payer-Provider Ecosystem

Abridge Real-time Prior Authorization at the Point of Conversation - YouTube

Abridge Real-time Prior Authorization at the Point of Conversation

PITTSBURGH, PA (Aug. 12, 2025)—Highmark Health announced today the launch of an enterprise-wide collaboration with Abridge to deploy its ambient clinical documentation platform, collaborate on a paradigm-shifting prior authorization solution at the point of conversation, and invest in other innovative tools that integrate Abridge’s AI technology.

Highmark Health is a Pittsburgh-based organization that includes a multi-state insurance services division (Highmark Inc.) and a 14-hospital care provider (Allegheny Health Network). Abridge, also based in Pittsburgh, is a pioneer in developing AI technologies to improve patient outcomes and reduce clinician burdens.

The first phase of the collaboration involves implementing Abridge’s ambient clinical intelligence platform at AHN office locations and hospitals. The AI technology assists in clinical documentation so that providers can focus on patient care, rather than note-taking.

“Providing patients with exceptional, personalized care is our highest priority, and that starts with empowering clinicians to be their best,” said Mark Sevco, president of AHN. “Abridge’s technology allows clinicians to spend more time listening to and engaging with their patients, leading to a much better overall experience for both parties.”

Real-Time Clinical Notes From Patient-Clinician Conversations

Abridge securely transforms patient-clinician conversations into clinical notes. With the patient’s consent, the conversation is documented through a secure smartphone app or laptop/desktop with web recording. The clinical note is presented in real-time within the clinician’s existing workflow, allowing the clinician to review and edit the resulting note as needed. Once the clinician reviews and submits the notes, they are directly integrated into the patient’s electronic health record (EHR).

Automating what otherwise would have been a manual effort, the platform frees clinicians to focus more fully on delivering face-to-face patient care—rather than facing away from a patient and typing notes into a computer. In its own tests of ambient scribe technologies over the last year, AHN reported that 92% of its patients felt their providers were more attentive during their visits when ambient scribe technology was being utilized.

The platform also reduces the after-work hours—known in the industry as “pajama time” that doctors commonly spend editing their notes, reviewing EHRs and documenting after-care summaries. AHN clinicians who piloted the technologies reported dramatic improvements in documentation and workflow efficiency.

“Limiting documentation burden can help to solve for burnout and workforce shortages in the health care industry,” said Bethany Casagranda, DO, MBA, president of AHN’s physician organization and Chief Medical Officer for AHN. “Many of our physicians have described the technology as ‘life-changing’ because they are able to leave work with an empty inbox, and spend more evenings and weekend time with family, friends, and other activities that contribute to their wellbeing.”

“Abridge’s platform will help us close care gaps by generating clinically useful and compliant documentation at various interaction points,” Dr. Casagranda said. “Our roadmap includes utilization in our emergency departments, hospitalist programs, home care environments, and any other area where we believe it can make a difference.”

Pioneering Solution for Real-Time Prior Authorization at the Point of Conversation

Beyond the adoption of clinical documentation technology, Highmark Health and Abridge are also collaborating on a new prior-authorization technology that builds upon Highmark’s advanced product and is aimed at facilitating near-instantaneous approvals at the point of conversation.

Prior authorization is the process by which a health insurance plan approves a medical service or medication before it’s provided to a patient, to ensure coverage. The review process can sometimes cause delays in the provision of care or coverage; when delays occur, it’s often because of missing clinical documentation—not necessarily because the insurer doesn’t cover the procedure.

Highmark, however, has spent years refining its prior authorization programs and documentation technologies, so that approvals can happen at the point of submission.

“Highmark Health has long been focused on simplifying the prior authorization process, and recently we joined many other U.S. health plans in redoubling our commitment to connecting patients more quickly to the care they need while also reducing administrative burdens on the clinicians who provide that care,” said Tony Farah, MD, EVP, Chief Medical and Clinical Transformation Officer for Highmark Health.

Highmark Health Plan is already processing a significant percentage of prior authorizations electronically, at the point of submission, through the physician Gold Carding program—which pre-approves doctors based on their historical practice patterns—and other electronic systems.

The collaboration with Abridge aims to accelerate that approval process further. Abridge’s technology will work by comparing, in real time, Highmark’s medical authorization requirements to the information that is being collected during the physician-patient visit. If any pieces of required documentation are missing, Abridge will prompt the physician to gather what’s needed.

“Prior authorization is one of the biggest challenges facing healthcare today, and the costs of waiting for approval can be enormously significant for patients,” said Dr. Shiv Rao, Abridge CEO and Co-Founder. “Our technology opens a powerful path to dramatically reduce the burden of this process at the point of conversation—by helping clinicians ask the right questions and automatically generate documentation that’s both complete and compliant. That transforms a traditionally weeks-long process into one that can take just minutes. We’re excited to refine this new solution with the experts at Highmark Health, who see the real-world impact of these delays every day. Ultimately, it’s about giving clinicians back their time and ensuring patients get the timely care and focus they deserve.”

About Abridge

Abridge was founded in 2018 to power deeper understanding in healthcare. The enterprise-grade AI platform transforms medical conversations into clinically useful and billable documentation at the point of care, reducing administrative burden and clinician burnout while improving patient experience.

About Highmark Health

Highmark Health, a Pittsburgh, PA-based enterprise that employs more than 44,000 people who serve millions of Americans across the country, is the parent company of Highmark Inc., Allegheny Health Network, and enGen. Highmark Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates provide health insurance to more than 7 million members in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, and New York.