Use Gmail's AI to Speed Up Payer and Referral Emails

What This Does

Gmail's built-in AI features help you write professional emails faster — completing your sentences as you type (Smart Compose) and drafting full emails from a short description (Help Me Write). Both are free with any Gmail account, including hospital Google Workspace accounts.

Before You Start

• You use Gmail or Google Workspace email at work
• Smart Compose is turned on (it usually is by default)
• You have a pending email to write — follow-up to payer, request to referring office, patient communication

Steps

1. Start a New Email

Click "Compose" in Gmail. Your compose window opens.

2. Use Smart Compose While You Type

As you begin typing, you'll see light gray text appearing ahead of your cursor — that's Smart Compose predicting what you'll write next. Press the Tab key to accept a suggestion, or just keep typing to ignore it.

What you should see: After you type "I am following up on the prior authorization submitted for," Gmail suggests a plausible continuation based on common email patterns.

Tip: Smart Compose gets better over time as it learns your writing patterns. Use it for the repetitive sentence structures in payer follow-ups.

3. Use "Help Me Write" for Full Drafts

In the compose window, look for the small pencil/sparkle icon (✨) in the lower left corner of the compose area. Click it and select "Help me write."

What you should see: A text prompt box appears asking "What would you like to write?"

4. Describe the Email

Type what you need. Examples:

• "Follow-up to [payer name] requesting status on prior auth for [procedure], submitted [date], reference [#]. Urgent — procedure is in 2 days."
• "Email to Dr. [name]'s office requesting a missing physician order for [first name] patient scheduled for [procedure] next week."

5. Click "Create" Then Refine

Gmail generates a full draft. Click "Refine" to adjust tone (more formal, shorter, more urgent). Review details carefully before sending.

Real Example

Scenario: A referring physician's office hasn't sent over the clinical notes needed to process a prior auth for an MRI. The appointment is in 3 days.

What you type in Help Me Write: "Professional but urgent email to a physician office requesting clinical documentation (progress notes, imaging history) needed to complete a prior authorization for a lumbar spine MRI. Appointment is in 3 business days. Patient name available, just need the records."

What you get: A professionally worded email with a polite but clear sense of urgency, specific documentation request, and a friendly closing — ready to send after you add the recipient's address and patient details.

Tips

• Smart Compose is always on in the background — just use Tab to accept suggestions for the repetitive parts of payer emails
• "Help Me Write" works best when you give it specific details (payer name, procedure, dates, reference numbers)
• If your organization uses Google Workspace (not personal Gmail), the same features are available — your IT team may have Gemini for Workspace enabled for even more advanced AI email features

Tool interfaces change — if a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.