> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.develophealth.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Prior Authorization Overview

> How delegated and non-delegated PA workflows operate, and how to interpret the PA lifecycle.

Develop Health turns the patient, insurance, prescription, provider, and
clinical evidence in a prior authorization request into a payer-ready
submission. The public create endpoint is the same for both supported submission
models; your implementation is configured as delegated or non-delegated with
the Develop Health team.

## Delegated and non-delegated workflows

| Model         | Who reviews before submission                                                                                      | Who submits to the payer or PBM                                                           | Key lifecycle handoff                                                                                                       |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Delegated     | Develop Health prepares and validates the request without requiring customer pre-submission review.                | Develop Health submits and manages payer or PBM follow-up.                                | After processing, the request generally proceeds to `awaiting_outcome` or another state that identifies required follow-up. |
| Non-delegated | Your authorized reviewer checks the prefilled answers and evidence, makes edits, and supplies missing information. | Your reviewer approves the prepared request for submission through the review experience. | The request enters `awaiting_review`; after review and submission, it proceeds to `awaiting_outcome`.                       |

In a delegated workflow, continue monitoring the PA while Develop Health handles
submission and follow-up. In a non-delegated workflow, treat `awaiting_review`
as an action state for your team: the PA is prepared but has not yet been
submitted to the payer or PBM.

Other nonterminal states can appear in either model. For example,
`awaiting_provider_response` means the prescriber or provider must supply or
review information, while `validating_outcome` means a payer response is being
checked.

### Typical lifecycle by model

* Delegated: `processing` → `awaiting_outcome` → terminal state
* Non-delegated: `processing` → `awaiting_review` → `awaiting_outcome` → terminal state

These are the normal paths, not exhaustive state machines. Always use the
current `data.status` and the response handling guide as the source of truth.

## Response handling

A successful create response means the PA was accepted, not that it was
submitted to a payer or PBM. See [Prior Authorization Response Handling](/api-reference/prior-authorization/response-handling)
for lifecycle states, request errors, terminal exceptions, and recommended
caller behavior.