---
title: "STAT cases move to the front automatically - Davner"
description: "Davner identifies prior authorizations with approaching service dates as STAT automatically, so urgency doesn’t depend on someone remembering a flag."
canonical_url: "https://davner.com/blog/stat-cases-move-to-the-front-automatically"
type: "article"
published_at: "2026-08-06"
updated_at: "2026-08-06"
---

Source: https://davner.com/blog/stat-cases-move-to-the-front-automatically

[Blog](https://davner.com/blog)

# STAT cases move to the front automatically

Davner identifies prior authorizations with approaching service dates as STAT automatically, so urgency doesn’t depend on someone remembering a flag.

 Benjamin Lee, PhD — August 6, 2026

![A red document moved above other documents.](https://davner.com/marketing/blog/stat-cases-move-to-the-front-automatically.fallback.png)

Davner is a managed prior authorization service. Practices give us the work, we handle it from submission through determination, and their staff can oversee every case without managing the payer process themselves.

Handling that work also means knowing which cases need to move first. In practice, there are two kinds of STAT prior authorizations.

The first is clinically urgent. A patient may need imaging after a traumatic injury to determine whether surgery is required, and a delay could affect the patient's outcome.

The second becomes urgent because the scheduled date of service is approaching. The note might have been delayed. Someone may have forgotten to initiate the request. A newly available appointment may have moved the procedure forward. What was once a routine authorization now has very little time left.

The reason doesn't change what has to happen next. The authorization needs to move to the front of the line.

Davner now automatically treats a prior authorization as STAT when its scheduled date of service is within three business days. Staff can also mark a request STAT themselves for any reason.

## Urgency shouldn't depend on memory

Before this change, practices could add a comment to tell us that a case was urgent or contact us out of band. Our phone number is easy to find, and users go directly to a person when they call us.

That still required someone at the practice to recognize that the case was urgent, remember to tell us, and then required us to keep track of the exception internally. It wasn't great for anyone.

Medicine is a human practice, and people can forget things. Documentation can take longer than expected. Schedules change. A procedure slot can open unexpectedly. There are a million reasons a case may suddenly have a short runway, and it doesn't mean anyone failed to do their job.

Relying on a person to remember to mark every urgent case isn't a recipe for success. If Davner already knows the date of service, the system should be able to recognize the urgency itself.

We calculate the threshold in business days because that's ultimately what matters to the payer. AI works 24 hours a day, but unfortunately payers don't.

## What changes when a case is STAT

From the practice's perspective, the authorization follows the same process. The STAT designation highlights the case and makes its urgency visible.

Behind the scenes, it changes how the case is sorted and prioritized. Notifications to the practice are marked as high priority so they rise to the top of the recipient's inbox. The case moves ahead of routine work for our team, and any authorization that needs a human touch receives that attention first.

Once the date of service establishes that a confirmed case is STAT, the flag can't be removed. If the practice is confirming that a procedure is scheduled within that short window, the reason for the urgency doesn't matter. It has to move quickly whether the risk is a worse clinical outcome, a canceled procedure, or lost revenue.

Staff can still mark a case STAT when the date alone doesn't tell the whole story. A patient may need faster care even though a procedure hasn't been scheduled yet. The automatic rule is a safety net, not a replacement for the context staff have.

## Let the facts set the priority

That model only works if the right case receives attention at the right time. A queue that depends entirely on manual labels will eventually miss something. The system already has facts such as the scheduled date of service, so it should use them to prevent avoidable mistakes.

The goal is simple: identify urgent work from the information already available, give staff a way to add context when needed, and make sure patients aren't delayed and providers don't lose revenue because someone forgot to check a box.

Automatic STAT prioritization is live now for prior authorization cases on Davner.

## Spend less time chasing prior authorizations

Let Davner handle the work behind each approval, so your team can stay focused on patients.

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