Utilization review (UR) is a health insurance cost-containment tool that addresses the necessity and quality of an insured patients medical care. Most UR programs include preadmission certification, concurrent review, and retrospective review. One primary purpose of a retrospective review is to provide the bare minimum of care to avoid a lawsuit analyze what type of care will be appropriate for the insured patient before the patient is admitted into a hospital develop a plan for administering treatment to the insured patient help insurers to spot trends and to identify areas or providers that have excessive costs