--- title: "Payer Portal Login Setup: Availity & UHC" description: Learn how to connect Availity and UnitedHealthcare (UHC) to SamaCare so we can submit prior authorizations and track their status for your practice. --- [Skip to content](https://help.samacare.com/payer-portal-login-setup-availity-uhc#main-content) English - United States Show submenu for translations [![samacare logo](https://help.samacare.com/hubfs/SamaCare_logo_hubspot.svg)](https://www.samacare.com/) - [Home](https://help.samacare.com/) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Home](https://help.samacare.com/) - English - United States Show submenu for translations How can we help you? - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [SamaCare Help Center](https://help.samacare.com/?hsLang=en-us) 2. [Getting Started](https://help.samacare.com/getting-started?hsLang=en-us) # Payer Portal Login Setup: Availity & UHC ### Overview  This guide walks practice admins through connecting Availity and UnitedHealthcare (UHC) to SamaCare, so SamaCare can submit prior authorizations and track their status on your practice's behalf. Setup takes a few minutes per portal and is done once, with updates only when your practice's organizations, Tax IDs, or locations change.   **Admin access is required.** Portal access settings are only available to SamaCare admin users. If you don't see the gear icon in the left-hand navigation, ask a practice admin to complete this setup or to grant you admin access.  --- ### Before You Begin Both portals start from the same place in SamaCare. #### Step 1: Open Settings From the SamaCare dashboard, click the **gear icon** in the left-hand navigation to open **Settings**. *![Screenshot 2026-10-26 143911](https://help.samacare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-10-26%20143911.png?width=670&height=447&name=Screenshot%202026-10-26%20143911.png)* #### Step 2: Open Portal Access In the Administrative Dashboard, select the **Portal access** tab along the top. It opens to the **Portal login** sub-tab, where you'll find SamaCare's staff email and the list of connected portals. The **Organizations** sub-tab next to it is used for organization mapping. ![](https://help.samacare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-40-27-0550-PM.png?width=663&height=439&name=image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-40-27-0550-PM.png) --- ### Availity #### Step 1: Reveal SamaCare's Staff Email On the **Portal login** sub-tab, under **SamaCare automation staff email**, click **Reveal email address**. This creates a login email dedicated to your practice, which SamaCare uses to submit prior authorizations on your behalf. You'll add this email as a staff user in Availity in the next step. *![](https://help.samacare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-41-47-1420-PM.png?width=665&height=404&name=image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-41-47-1420-PM.png)* #### Step 2: Invite SamaCare as a Staff User in Availity In Availity Essentials, go to **My Teams \> Invite Users**. Under **Invite users to the following organizations**, select your practice's organization, then complete one row: - **User First Name:** SamaCare - **User Last Name:** Team - **User Email Address:** The staff email revealed in SamaCare (Step 1). ![](https://help.samacare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-42-22-5689-PM.png?width=632&height=482&name=image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-42-22-5689-PM.png) #### Step 3: Assign the Required Roles Depending on your Availity configuration, a role selection screen may appear before the invite can be completed. If it does, select these roles at minimum: - **Base** - **Authorization and Referral Inquiry** (under Authorization & Referrals) - **Authorization and Referral Request** (under Authorization & Referrals) ![](https://help.samacare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-43-57-6802-PM.png?width=662&height=343&name=image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-43-57-6802-PM.png)  **Important:** Referral Coordinator is not required. Without the two Authorization roles, SamaCare cannot submit or check prior authorizations in Availity.  #### Step 4: Add an Availity Organization Mapping In SamaCare, go to **Settings \> Portal access** and select the **Organizations** sub-tab. Click **New** to open the **Add organization mapping** window, then complete the fields: - **Portal:** Select **Availity**. - **Organization name in portal:** Enter the name exactly as it appears in Availity. Availity labels this field **"Organization Name."** - **Location(s):** If your practice has one location, or all locations share the same Tax ID and organization name, click **Select all**. If locations have different Tax IDs or organization names, save this mapping with only its matching locations, then click **New** to create a separate line for each additional organization with its own location(s). Click **Save**. ![](https://help.samacare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-44-45-6255-PM.png?width=670&height=450&name=image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-44-45-6255-PM.png) #### Step 5: Monitor Connection Status  Once you’ve sent the invitation and saved your organization mapping(s), no further action is needed from your team. SamaCare completes the setup from here, which can take up to 48 hours. To check progress, go to **Settings \> Portal access \> Portal login** and find Availity under **Connected portals**: - **Setup pending:** Setup has not been completed yet or is in the queue for completion. - **Ready:** Setup is complete, and your users can begin using SamaCare's automated submissions for eligible Availity requests. ![](https://help.samacare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-45-39-6532-PM.png?width=670&height=426&name=image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-45-39-6532-PM.png) --- ### Other Portals Follow the steps below to set up Availity, UHC, and UHC (Optum). Organization mapping also allows practices to add multiple organizations and Tax IDs. #### Step 1: Open the Organizations Sub-Tab From **Settings \> Portal access**, select the **Organizations** sub-tab. This is where you tell SamaCare which organization to submit under for each portal.  Add a separate mapping for each organization your practice uses in each portal.  ![](https://help.samacare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-47-29-8619-PM.png?width=670&height=471&name=image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-47-29-8619-PM.png) #### Step 2: Add an Organization Mapping Click **New** to open the **Add organization mapping** window. The fields shown depend on the portal you select. The steps and screenshots below use **UHC** as an example. Follow the helper text beneath each field, which shows exactly where to find each value in that portal. - **Portal:** Select the portal you're setting up. In this example, **UHC**. Other options include **Availity** and **UHC (Optum)**. Practices that need both procedure and drug submissions must add a separate mapping for each portal, even when the details are the same. - **Organization name in portal:** Enter the name exactly as it appears in the portal. In this example, UHC labels this field **"Corporate tax ID owner."** (Availity labels it **"Organization Name."**) - **UHC portal ID** (UHC and UHC (Optum) only)**:** Enter the number UHC shows in parentheses after the organization name (for example, 008332271). - **Location(s):**  Select only the locations associated with this organization. If all locations share the same Tax ID and organization name, click **Select all**. Otherwise, create separate mappings for each organization and its matching locations. Click **Save**. Repeat this step for each portal your practice uses. ![](https://help.samacare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-48-12-1773-PM.png?width=655&height=441&name=image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-48-12-1773-PM.png) ![](https://help.samacare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-48-49-4197-PM.png?width=665&height=450&name=image-png-Oct-26-2026-06-48-49-4197-PM.png) #### Step 3: What Happens Next Once your mappings are saved, no further action is needed from your team. UHC and UHC (Optum) do not display a Setup pending or Ready status under Connected portals. Your saved mappings appear in the **Organizations** table, where you can review or update them at any time.  **Tip:** If SamaCare notices an incomplete or inaccurate setup, we'll reach out to help resolve it.  ### Eligible Payers & Services  An Availity, connection marked **Ready** means SamaCare can submit for eligible payer and service combinations on that portal. Coverage varies by payer and line of business and continues to expand. For the current list, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager.  ### Automated PA Status Checks - Authorizations submitted through SamaCare's automation are always checked. - Authorizations submitted directly by your practice users can also be checked by this automation **once your practice has completed the Availity portal invitation**, which gives SamaCare visibility into the authorizations in your practice's Availity dashboard. For supported payers, submission types, and required information, see Portal PA Status Checks  --- ### Need Help? If you run into any issues during setup, our team is here to help. - **Chat with us:** use the chat icon directly inside SamaCare - **Email us:** [help@samacare.com](mailto:help@samacare.com) - [Welcome Aboard](https://help.samacare.com/welcome-aboard?hsLang=en-us) - [Getting Started](https://help.samacare.com/getting-started?hsLang=en-us) - [Authorizations](https://help.samacare.com/authorizations?hsLang=en-us#main-content) - [Submitting Authorizations](https://help.samacare.com/authorizations?hsLang=en-us#submitting-authorizations) - [Managing Authorizations](https://help.samacare.com/authorizations?hsLang=en-us#managing-authorizations) - [Help and Support](https://help.samacare.com/help-and-support?hsLang=en-us) - [FAQ](https://help.samacare.com/faq?hsLang=en-us) - [EHR](https://help.samacare.com/ehr?hsLang=en-us) - [Home](https://help.samacare.com/) [![samacare logo](https://help.samacare.com/hubfs/SamaCare_logo_hubspot.svg "samacare logo")](https://www.samacare.com/) Copyright © 2026,