How does referrals actually work?

First time being on an HMO insurance and I have an appointment Monday with a dermatologist, the office called because they have not received my referral yet (we setup this appointment because my PCP confirmed that the referral approved and sent, maybe the office is still processing faxes).

So I called my PCP office they said it’s been faxed over 3 times and they provided me an authorization number, a service start date, a service end date, and number of allowed visits. I provide this to my dermatologist office and they said I’m good to go for my appointment on Monday.

However, out of curiosity, I do not see this prior authorization in my UHC app, so I called UHC just to see if I have a prior authorization, and they said they could not locate anything, and they believe my doctor have not submitted a prior authorization.

So I’m really lost here, am I good to go to this appointment Monday? If it wasn’t approved how did my PCP office provide an authorization number? Of course I find out about this on a Friday afternoon and everyone has left work and I can’t speak to anybody until Monday morning, which is when my appointment is.