R1 to Acquire Humata Health, Automate Prior Authorizations

R1 expands AI automation with Humata Health acquisition

R1, a healthcare revenue management company, has agreed to acquire Humata Health, an AI-powered prior authorization platform. The transaction, expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2026, will integrate Humata's technology into R1's Phare Operating System to automate authorization workflows and reduce claim denials.

Prior authorizations rank among the top three drivers of claim denials in healthcare and represent a significant administrative burden. A recent KFF survey found that one-third of insured adults identified prior authorization as the biggest obstacle to accessing care, particularly for those managing chronic conditions. The manual effort required to track changing payer policies and submit authorization requests creates friction for providers, payers, and patients alike.

How the technology works

Humata Health's platform uses agentic AI workflows to match authorization policies and connect with payers in real time. The system determines requirement logic, creates clinical documentation bundles, provides evidence for payer attestations, and manages requests through final approval across medical specialties.

According to the announcement, Humata's solution enables providers to achieve up to a 96 percent first-pass approval rate while reducing write-offs by 30 percent, rescheduled appointments by 83 percent, and staff touches by 45 percent.

R1's Phare OS is designed to automate pre-bill workflows including authorization, utilization review, documentation, and coding. The platform uses AI to prevent denials and optimize reimbursement before claims submission. Humata's authorization policy monitoring and autonomous submission capabilities will enhance Phare Intelligence and Payer Atlas, the foundational components of Phare OS.

Why it matters

Prior authorization delays impose real costs on healthcare delivery—delaying patient care, consuming staff time, and creating revenue uncertainty for providers. By automating the authorization process upstream, R1 aims to shift the industry toward real-time approvals that reduce administrative overhead for both providers and payers. The acquisition reflects a broader industry push to use AI not just for back-office efficiency, but to remove structural barriers in care delivery workflows.

Integration and scale

Following the transaction close, Humata's team will join R1's R37 innovation lab, the company's agentic AI development group. R1 plans to connect Humata's technology to Phare OS to accelerate automation across the revenue cycle.

R1 partners with 1,000 providers, including 95 of the top 100 U.S. health systems, and processes more than 600 million payer transactions annually. Humata Health is backed by Blue Venture Fund, Sandbox Clinical Venture Fund, LRVHealth, .406 Ventures, and Highmark Ventures.

"Humata significantly enhances our coverage of the authorization process, advancing our strategy to have the most intelligent and integrated pre-bill architecture in the industry," said Joe Flanagan, Chief Executive Officer of R1.

Jeremy Friese, MD, Founder and CEO of Humata Health, noted that prior authorization delays strain an already burdened healthcare system. "By joining forces with R1 and its visionary R37 innovation lab, we can bring our prior authorization capabilities into the Phare OS platform, combining advanced AI and upstream intelligence with downstream execution to finally eliminate administrative friction for providers, payers, and patients," he said.

Details of the acquisition were first reported by R1 in a press release issued August 18, 2026.