AR (accounts receivable) recovery may be something for you to consider if your AR has greater than 40% of receivables greater than 120 days. Of course if this is the case, you probably need a lot more than just recovery efforts. Something is perpetuating that problem and in addition to recovery, stopping the aging should be done in conjunction with that effort.

Recently a provider asked me to take a look at their operations and give my opinion on how efficient they are. But looking at operations without seeing the result of those efforts (AR) is kind of like looking at an engine in a car without test driving it to assess performance. Both are necessary.

Accounts Receivables is both the recipient of operational efforts and the driver of operational efforts. Improving operations can be accomplished by assessing the impact of those operations on AR. Do you have “check-in” denials? Regardless of how well your front desk handles patients and or how quickly they get them through the process; cash flow is the real test of efficiency.

How much time is your staff spending re-working denied claims? This equates to only one thing. Cost. And that cost reflects directly upon some process that is not working. Not only does your staff need to analyze how to get paid, but also what is causing the problem in the first place and offer a remedy to change and improve that process. More and more patients are insured, but that also means more and more have high deductibles. What is the collection policy and process? AR will tell you the result of that process; the success or failure of that policy.

Are your contracts with payers being updated as a result of the ICD-10 conversion? If this isn’t a priority, your cash flow could receive a huge blow at a time when every dollar collected is necessary to your practice success. Analyzing accounts receivable methodically and objectively is a necessary and regular task. That means data collection, report creation and running, asking the right questions and confirming the answers.

Need some help with that? Give us a call

Lewis Garvin | Director, Business Development
850.474.8462 | 877.521.3198 | EMAIL