Reality dictates that a clinic’s A/R will never be 0% over 90 days. With patient self-pay becoming more and more prevalent in medical billing and the complexities of insurance payments, most clinics will always carry some percent of past due accounts on their books over 90 days. However, the difference between good A/R and bad A/R is stark.
What does good A/R look like as a benchmark for your clinic? A good rule of thumb is to keep your 90+ accounts receivables at or below 12%. Many of our new clients come to us with A/R in the 20% range. In cold hard cash terms that can means thousands of dollars for a clinic.
Why does A/R get out of control when you know it means thousands of dollars? It happens because it’s difficult to allocate staff resources to the follow up required to get paid in a timely way. It happens for the most part because the processes are not in place within most clinics to adequately manage unpaid self-pay, insurance rejections, and insurance denials.
You know your billing office is working at capacity. You also know that leaving thousands of dollars on the table every year is not favorable for your clinic. So what is a good solution? The first step is to set up an initial, free consultation with Outsource Receivables to begin the process and to learn more about what options you have available. ORI works with clinics across the Midwest every day in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and other states to implement best practices that improve medical billing A/R. To learn more about what ORI can offer your practice, contact Dan Smits at 763-398-5209.