Anne Mall, M.H.A., on AI’s role in reducing provider burden in prior auth | PBMI 2026

At the 2026 Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI) Annual National Conference last week in Orlando, Florida, Anne Mall, M.H.A., vice president of capabilities at Optum Rx, discussed how the company is using artificial intelligence (AI) to help clinicians move patients onto therapy faster while reducing the administrative burden and friction of prior authorization.

Much of the clinical detail plans need for prior authorization already exist in a provider's chart notes, Mall said in an interview with Managed Healthcare Executive (MHE), but it’s often documented as unstructured text that varies widely from physician to physician. Optum Rx's AI tool is designed to read through those notes, surface the clinically relevant details and isolate them for clinicians and pharmacists.

“We’re using AI as a supporting tool that enables our clinicians to be able to make decisions quicker and faster and more effectively,” Mall told MHE. The goal is reducing the time clinicians spend hunting for information buried in unstructured documentation.

Mall spoke to MHE after participating in a PBMI conference session titled “Reimagining Prior Authorization with AI and Automation,” with her colleague, Lauren Hackenberg, Pharm.D., vice president of strategy and product at Optum Rx.