How to Recover Aged A/R
By MedPrecision Editorial Team · Published
Aged accounts receivable represent money your practice has earned but not yet collected. The longer a claim goes unpaid, the less likely it is to be collected. Implementing a systematic A/R recovery strategy can unlock significant revenue that would otherwise be written off.
Understanding the Impact of Aged A/R
Claims aged beyond 90 days have a collection probability that drops below 50%, and those over 120 days may only be collected 30% of the time. For many practices, aged A/R represents tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in trapped revenue. High days-in-A/R also indicates systemic billing problems that need to be addressed to prevent future revenue loss.
Prioritizing A/R Recovery Efforts
Not all aged claims deserve equal attention. Prioritize recovery efforts by focusing on high-dollar claims first, claims approaching timely filing deadlines, payers with known slow payment patterns, and claims where the denial reason is correctable. This targeted approach maximizes the return on your recovery investment.
Effective Follow-Up Strategies
Successful A/R recovery requires systematic follow-up including contacting payers by phone and portal for status updates, resubmitting claims with corrected information, filing appeals with supporting documentation, escalating to payer representatives when standard channels fail, and documenting every contact for future reference. Consistent, documented follow-up is the key to recovering aged balances.
Preventing Future A/R Aging
The best approach to aged A/R is preventing it in the first place. This means submitting clean claims within 24-48 hours of service, working denials within 48 hours of receipt, following up on unpaid claims at 30-day intervals, and monitoring days-in-A/R as a key performance metric. Practices that maintain these disciplines typically keep days-in-A/R below 35.
Common Questions
Common questions about how to recover aged a/r.
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Get a Free Billing Audit arrow_forwardWhat is a healthy days-in-A/R for a medical practice?
Best-performing practices maintain days-in-A/R between 25-35 days. If your practice exceeds 45 days, there are likely systemic issues in your billing workflow that need to be addressed.
Is it worth pursuing very old claims?
It depends on the dollar amount and payer timely filing limits. MedPrecision evaluates each aged claim's recovery potential and focuses efforts where the return justifies the investment, while also addressing root causes to prevent future aging.
How does MedPrecision help recover aged A/R?
We conduct a thorough A/R analysis, prioritize claims by recovery potential, and deploy experienced follow-up specialists who work systematically through your aged balances. We also implement process changes to prevent future A/R accumulation.
Can MedPrecision help with patient A/R as well?
Yes, we manage both insurance and patient A/R including statement generation, payment plan setup, and patient communication to improve collection of patient responsibility balances.
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