Could old AR be the silent culprit behind the growing number of rejected claims in your family practice? For a successful family practice, managing the revenue cycle efficiently is crucial. A key element in this process is accounts receivable (AR). Effective management of AR can significantly improve the financial health of your practice. Let’s discover how you can effectively manage and fight rejected claims in family practice with old AR.
Understanding AR in Family Practice
Accounts receivables (ARs) in healthcare are the outstanding invoices or reimbursements your family practice is owed. These unpaid accounts may include patient invoices and insurance company reimbursements. The AR process begins once a claim is submitted or an invoice is billed. The account is then removed from AR upon receiving the payment.
Importance of Updating a Family Practice with Old AR
Did you know that practices with more than 10% of their AR over 90 days are at significant financial risk? This is because the likelihood of collecting payments drops drastically after this period.
The more accounts you have in AR, the less money your practice collects. Prolonged unpaid invoices or claims increase the likelihood of never being paid, which can strain cash flow and operations. This situation can lead to writing off bad debt, ultimately affecting your family practice’s financial stability.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for AR
To maintain healthy AR, track these critical KPIs:
- Average Days in AR: This metric represents the average days to receive reimbursement after the appointment date. Aim to keep this duration at 35 days or less.
- AR over 90 Days: This metric indicates the percentage of accounts receivable older than 90 days. Try to maintain this percentage below 10%.
5 Best Practices to Improve Old AR in a Family Practice
- Update Insurance Verification: Incorrect or unverified insurance significantly threatens your revenue cycle. Implementing a real-time eligibility (RTE) tool can ensure quick and accurate insurance checks before appointments. Regular batch checks of patient insurance can also prevent issues, reducing the risk of denied claims.
- Track AR regularly: Monitoring old AR regularly is essential. It helps identify trends with particular patients or payers and areas for process improvement. For instance, if one payer consistently delays payments, you can investigate and address the issue.
- Send Estimates and Collect Upfront Payments: Collecting payments at the time of service can drastically reduce AR. Providing cost estimates before appointments helps patients prepare for their financial responsibility, leading to timely payments and improved patient satisfaction.
- Automate Claims Process: Manual billing processes are prone to errors. Automating claim submissions and billing processes can reduce mistakes, rejections, and denials, leading to faster reimbursements and less time spent in AR.
- Lean on Experts: If managing AR becomes complex and time-consuming due to your busy schedule, consider outsourcing to a specialized RCM. Experts can efficiently manage your AR, reducing the number of AR days and increasing your practice’s cash flow.
Why Outsource Medical Billing and Coding?
Outsourcing medical billing and coding offers numerous benefits, particularly for managing old AR in a family practice. Also, it allows your practice to focus on patient care while ensuring that billing is handled expertly.
Here are 3 reasons why a medical billing company can handle old AR better than in-house staff:
- More Resources: Medical billing companies have experienced staff, advanced software, and established relationships with insurance companies. This allows them to resolve claims faster and more efficiently.
- Greater Experience: Billing companies manage numerous claims and have systems to handle denials and rejections swiftly. Their expertise with various medical insurance requirements ensures higher success rates in claims recovery.
- Enhanced Accuracy: Professional billers make fewer mistakes due to their specialized knowledge and experience. They are expert at scrubbing claims for errors before submission, leading to fewer rejections and denials.
How MBC Can Help Clear Old AR:
Medical Billers and Coders (MBC), a leading consortium in the U.S., offers comprehensive billing services that ensure compliance with current regulations, improve accuracy, reduce old ARs, and optimize reimbursements. By outsourcing your billing tasks to MBC, you can focus more on patient care and less on administrative burdens.
Benefits of Partnering with MBC:
- Cost Efficiency: Our services can help you achieve noticeable cost savings and a significant 10-15% increase in revenue.
- Streamlined Claims: Our commitment to clean claims maximizes revenue generation for practitioners.
- Optimized Reimbursements: Our expertise in documentation and coding maximizes reimbursements for family practice services.
Don’t Let Old AR Ruin Your Family Practice’s Efficiency!
Contact MBC today to enhance your billing processes, boost reimbursements, and ensure compliance with family practice billing and coding regulations.
FAQs
Q: How can real-time eligibility (RTE) tools improve AR management?
A: Real-time eligibility (RTE) tools can improve AR management by verifying patient insurance information before appointments. This helps prevent claim denials due to incorrect or unverified insurance details, ensuring smoother billing processes and faster reimbursements.
Q: How often should a family practitioner track old AR to maintain healthy cash flow?
A: Family practices should track their old AR regularly, ideally weekly or bi-weekly. Consistent monitoring helps identify trends, promptly address issues, and ensure the practice maintains a healthy cash flow.
Q: How can outsourcing improve AR management?
A: Outsourcing to a medical billing company like Medical Billers and Coders (MBC) provides access to experienced staff, advanced software, and efficient processes, leading to faster and more accurate claims processing and reduced ARs.