Anterior vs Duckie

About

Anterior is a London and New York-based healthtech company that applies AI to automate the prior authorization process, one of the most burdensome administrative tasks in U.S. healthcare. Prior authorization requires physicians to submit clinical evidence to insurance companies justifying the medical necessity of treatments, procedures, or medications — a process that consumes significant physician and staff time and causes treatment delays that harm patient outcomes. Anterior's AI reads patient clinical records, identifies the relevant clinical criteria required by the insurer, extracts supporting evidence from the patient's history, and generates complete prior auth submissions automatically. The platform also predicts approval likelihood and flags cases likely to require clinical review, helping health system staff prioritize their work. Founded in 2022, Anterior raised funding from investors including Sequoia Capital and has rapidly signed health system customers facing acute prior authorization burdens. The company's approach addresses a systemically inefficient process that costs the U.S. healthcare system an estimated $35B annually in administrative waste.