In Conversation: Oron Afek
CEO, Vim - on the growing burden of claim denials and prior authorization on US providers
The healthcare technology conversation this year keeps returning to the themes raised by Oron Afek, CEO, Vim. In a wide-ranging conversation conducted by HIT Consultant, Oron laid out a view of the industry that is both candid and immediately useful to the executives, clinicians, and builders who read HealthTech Cube.
The conversation
The growing burden of claim denials and prior authorization on US providers - and where automation, AI, and payer-provider collaboration can relieve the administrative load.
“Providers spend, on average, 35% of their time on prior authorizations.”
- Oron Afek, in conversation with HIT Consultant
Conversation highlights
The growing burden of claim denials and prior authorization on US providers
And payer-provider collaboration can relieve the administrative load
The bigger picture
The AI adoption question runs through every executive conversation in 2026. The evidence base is finally arriving: the largest controlled study of ambient documentation, published in JAMA, found clinicians saved 16 minutes of documentation time per day - but only a third of users hit the usage threshold for maximum benefit (our coverage). Meanwhile Rock Health has stopped labeling AI as a differentiator at all, because every company claims it - which is exactly why operating discipline of the kind described here separates winners from demo-ware.
It is the kind of discussion that separates durable strategy from conference-stage talking points. At Vim, that thinking translates into daily decisions about where technology genuinely earns its place in care delivery, and where discipline matters more than novelty.
The HTC take
Set against the sector's $7.4 billion funding half-year and accelerating policy agenda, perspectives like this one are the practical map the headlines don't provide.