UnitedHealth (UNH.N) and CVS Health (CVS.N), two of the largest US health insurers, have announced measures to standardize prior authorization requirements for over half of their prior authorizations. The move is part of an industry effort to reduce delays and paperwork for patients and doctors. UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealth's insurance unit, expects over 70% of its prior authorization requests to be part of this standardized process by the end of the year. CVS Healthcare's Aetna insurance unit has also standardized 88% of their total prior authorization volume. The standardized approach will be used for medical services such as orthopedic surgeries and imaging services, including CT scans and MRIs.