November 2025 Top of Mind

Providers in Massachusetts – Reach for STAR to submit most inpatient prior auth requests online

Beginning Nov. 12, 2025, prior authorization requests for three inpatient treatments can be submitted through the Optum Provider Express secure portal.

• Applies to these health plans sitused in Massachusetts
  • Commercial fully insured plans
  • Mass General Brigham Commercial ASO
  • Individual and Family (Exchange) Plans
  • Medicaid Plans, including:
    • Mass General Brigham Senior Care Options (Medicaid portion only)
    • MGBHP Medicaid
• Specific treatments
  • Inpatient mental health
  • Community-Based Acute Treatment (CBAT)
  • Intensive Community-Based Acute Treatment (ICBAT)

   

  How to request authorization

  • Go to ProviderExpress.com and select Log In (upper right corner) to access the Provider Express secure portal.
    • Sign into the portal using your One Healthcare ID and password.
    • Don’t have one? Choose First-time User on the login page and follow the steps.
  • From the menu at the top of the page, select Auths, then Auth Requests from the drop-down menu. You can create a request in one of two ways:
    1. Select Request to create a new authorization, select the specific service from the menu and follow the prompts to provide the required information.
    2. You can also select View my Census and search for the member by Member ID or by the Name and Date of Birth,
       • Simply select the Member and then continue to enter your request details.

   

  Questions? For technical support, call the Provider Express Support Center at 1-866-209-9320 from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. ET, Monday–Friday.

  For general items, call Optum Behavioral Health Provider Services at 1-877-614-0484 for assistance.