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

# Authorization

> Query prior authorizations issued by payers - look up authorized units, validity dates, and the claims billed against each authorization.

Prior authorizations issued by payers to patients at a practice. One row per authorization, including the payer, authorization number, number of authorized units, period start and expire dates, an active flag, and any free-text notes. Referenced by `claim.authorization_id`.

The table schema can be found in our [HDB dbdocs reference](https://dbdocs.io/hosteddb_support/hosted_database_snowflake?view=authorization).

**For reporting on but not limited to:**

* Currently active authorizations for a patient or practice
* Authorizations expiring soon that may need renewal
* How many claims have been billed against an authorization
* Authorization counts and authorized-unit totals by payer

<Note>
  The `authorization` table does not store a "units used" counter. To see how an authorization has been consumed, join to `claim` on `claim.authorization_id`. The `claim.authorization_id` field is only populated when staff explicitly linked the authorization on the claim, so untagged claims will not appear in the join.
</Note>

## Active authorizations

Returns authorizations the practice has flagged active that have not been soft-deleted.

<CodeGroup>
  ```sql sql theme={null}
  select
      auth.id as authorization_id
    , auth.patient_id
    , auth.practice_id
    , auth.payer_name
    , auth.auth_num
    , auth.auth_units
    , auth.starts
    , auth.expires
    , auth.auth_note
    , auth.creation_time_utc
    , auth.last_modified_utc
  from authorization auth
  where auth.is_deleted = false
    and auth.active = 1
  order by auth.expires;
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Authorizations expiring soon

Identifies authorizations expiring within the next 30 days. Useful for proactively requesting renewals.

<CodeGroup>
  ```sql sql theme={null}
  select
      auth.id as authorization_id
    , auth.patient_id
    , auth.practice_id
    , auth.payer_name
    , auth.auth_num
    , auth.auth_units
    , auth.starts
    , auth.expires
    , datediff(day, current_date, auth.expires) as days_until_expiration
  from authorization auth
  where auth.is_deleted = false
    and auth.active = 1
    and auth.expires between current_date and dateadd(day, 30, current_date)
  order by auth.expires;
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Claims billed against each authorization

Counts the claims that were linked to each authorization. This is the right way to see how an authorization has been used, since the `authorization` table itself does not record consumption.

<Note>
  One claim is not necessarily one authorized unit - payers may count units per CPT line or per service date. If you need unit-level accounting, drop down to the charge grain rather than counting claims. Also, claims only appear here when staff tagged the authorization on the claim; untagged claims are invisible to this join.
</Note>

<CodeGroup>
  ```sql sql theme={null}
  select
      auth.id as authorization_id
    , auth.patient_id
    , auth.payer_name
    , auth.auth_num
    , auth.auth_units as units_authorized
    , auth.starts
    , auth.expires
    , count(c.id) as claims_linked
  from authorization auth
    left join claim c on c.authorization_id = auth.id
  where auth.is_deleted = false
    and auth.active = 1
  group by auth.id, auth.patient_id, auth.payer_name, auth.auth_num, auth.auth_units, auth.starts, auth.expires
  order by claims_linked desc;
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Patient authorization history

Returns every authorization on file for a single patient, deleted rows included, ordered by most recently created.

<CodeGroup>
  ```sql sql theme={null}
  select
      auth.id as authorization_id
    , auth.payer_name
    , auth.auth_num
    , auth.auth_units
    , auth.active
    , auth.starts
    , auth.expires
    , auth.auth_note
    , auth.is_deleted
    , auth.creation_time_utc
    , auth.last_modified_utc
  from authorization auth
  where auth.patient_id = 12345  -- Replace with actual patient ID
  order by auth.creation_time_utc desc;
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Authorizations by payer

Aggregates authorization counts and total authorized units per payer.

<CodeGroup>
  ```sql sql theme={null}
  select
      auth.payer_name
    , count(*) as total_authorizations
    , count(distinct auth.patient_id) as unique_patients
    , sum(auth.auth_units) as total_units_authorized
  from authorization auth
  where auth.is_deleted = false
  group by auth.payer_name
  order by total_authorizations desc;
  ```
</CodeGroup>

*If you have any questions about this topic please reach out to [Elation Support Portal](/articles/support-portal-introduction) with the subject line HDB - \<your\_question>*