so let's clarify a few things.
All the things you described that suck (e.g. preauth, drug renewal, etc) are made to suck, on purpose, by ... drumroll ... you insurance company which, believe it or not is usually a for profit entity (USA USA USA) and therefore is incentivized to take your money and not pay any out in premium. Paying for your care to them is a loss, and what they do is try to minimize loss ratio. (remember obamacare loss-ratio cap checks from eon ago?). So how does, a for profit company that you paid premiums to ration your healthcare to minimize loss ratio: by creating the most arcane, convoluted, confusing and inefficient process standing between you and your care provider. This is not a bug with front desk, this is a feature of your for-profit insurance.
The flip side of the coin are of course all the STEMI docs, who show up there just to perform a dangerous and provably useless medical procedure day in and day out, because profit:)
It's like digging out an outhouse, it's ** all the way down.