The administrative staffing gap is the difference between the paperwork a US medical practice generates and the people it has to handle it: eligibility checks, prior authorizations, scheduling, intake, coding and billing follow-up. Clinical shortages get the headlines. The administrative gap quietly decides how many of those clinical hours turn into paid care.
This piece looks at how large that gap has become, why the seats are so hard to keep filled, and what to check before adding remote help through managed staffing providers such as myMedCrew.
How Big Is the Administrative Load?
Prior authorization alone shows the scale. In the American Medical Association’s 2024 survey of 1,000 physicians, practices completed an average of 39 prior authorization requests per physician per week, and physicians and their staff spent 13 hours a week on them. Forty percent of physicians said they have staff who work exclusively on prior authorizations (AMA, April 2025). That is close to a third of a full-time role per physician, before a single claim is billed.
The cost is measurable too. The 2024 CAQH Index found the medical industry could still save $18.4 billion a year by moving remaining manual administrative transactions to automated ones. It also estimated about 70 minutes could be saved per patient visit with wider automation (AJMC on the 2024 CAQH Index, February 2025). Until that automation arrives, people do the work.
Why Is the Seat So Hard to Keep Filled?
Demand for these roles keeps growing. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics counts about 979,000 medical secretaries and administrative assistants and projects the occupation to grow 5% over the next decade (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).
Keeping people is the harder part. In the Medical Group Management Association’s May 2026 poll, 28% of medical group leaders reported higher staff turnover than in 2025, and front-desk and administrative staff were among the most frequent churn points alongside medical assistants (MGMA Stat, 2026). MGMA’s own reading is that stable turnover is not the same as being fully staffed.
In a small practice, one resignation means authorizations, eligibility checks and denial follow-up all fall to whoever is left. Those tasks have deadlines, and the deadlines keep running while the seat is empty.
How Are Practices Closing the Gap?
Practices tend to use three levers, often together.
Hiring locally. It keeps everyone on site and works well when the local labor market cooperates. The trade-off is recruiting time, the full cost of a local hire and the same turnover exposure MGMA describes.
Automating. Electronic eligibility checks and prior authorization tools reduce volume. CMS now requires Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and CHIP plans to answer standard prior authorization requests within seven calendar days from January 2026, and to offer a Prior Authorization API by January 2027 (CMS-0057-F fact sheet). Those rules help, but someone still assembles the documentation and works the exceptions.
Adding managed remote staff. A growing number of practices add remote administrative specialists through managed staffing providers. myMedCrew, for example, places pre-vetted remote specialists in roles such as medical billing, prior authorization, insurance verification and patient intake, working inside the practice’s own systems and schedule.
What Should You Check Before Adding Remote Administrative Staff?
The model only works if the details are right. Five questions separate a good fit from a frustrating one.
- How is each person vetted for the specific role? A prior authorization specialist and a medical biller need different skills. Ask how experience, credentials and system familiarity are checked at screening, role by role.
- Will they work inside your systems? The specialist should log into your EHR, practice management system and payer portals, under your workflows, rather than pulling work into a separate platform you cannot see.
- Who directs the work? Your practice should set priorities and keep every decision that matters, such as whether to appeal a denial or how to handle a patient balance. The specialist runs the process. The practice keeps the judgment.
- How much of their day overlaps with your clinic hours? Eligibility questions and authorization calls happen while patients are in the building. Confirm coverage of your working hours, not just a shift count.
- What happens if a placement is not working? Ask how replacements are handled and how quickly, before you need the answer.
What Security Baseline Should Every Seat Meet?
Anyone handling claims or scheduling touches protected health information, whether they sit at your front desk or work remotely. Hold every seat to the same four basics: multi-factor authentication, encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access so each person sees only what their role requires, and audit logging. Ask how each is enforced, not just whether it exists.
The Takeaway
The administrative workload in US practices is large, measurable and not shrinking fast enough for automation alone to close it. Practices that stay ahead treat administrative roles as a staffing decision in their own right. Whether that means a local hire, better tools or remote specialists, the test is the same: does the practice keep control of its work and its patients’ data while the paperwork actually gets done?
