Insurers, Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), and other Payers may require individual authorizations before covering some procedures, services, or treatment types. Intensive or long-term outpatient therapies, for example, or inpatient admission to a substance use treatment facility, typically require authorization (also called pre-approval).
Authorizations are submitted by health care professionals, approved or denied by the Payer, and, as needed, managed through various stages such as additional research, resubmission, or an appeals process until the services are paid (partially or in full) or denied. At the billing stage, SmartCare can apply the amount authorized to the amount billed and issue an invoice for the remaining amount.
This user guide has two purposes: to document the [**Service Request and Review/Approval**](https://scribehow.com/shared/Authorizations_User_Guide__xd4NktVpRySJ1GmxwiXVtg#023b193c) process and [Authorizations](https://scribehow.com/shared/Authorizations_User_Guide__xd4NktVpRySJ1GmxwiXVtg#c5ddcc5a) process.