Accounts receivable is the money a practice is owed for services it has already provided. It is made up of balances owed by payers and balances owed by patients, and both change daily.
Why age matters
The longer an account stays open, the harder it usually becomes to resolve. Details are forgotten, filing deadlines approach and newer work takes priority. This is why practices look at their receivables by age, often in groups such as under thirty days, thirty to sixty days and so on, instead of as a single total.
A simple routine
- Review the aging report on a schedule, for example weekly, so that older items are seen before they become urgent.
- Sort accounts by what they need: a payer response, a corrected claim, documentation, or patient contact.
- Record every contact, with the date, the person spoken to and the outcome, so that the next person can continue the work.
- Reconcile payments against what was billed and expected, and investigate differences.
- Agree policies in advance for how long to follow up and when an account needs a decision from the practice.
Reporting
A short summary that shows the balance by age, the largest open items and the accounts waiting on the practice is usually more useful than a long list. It lets the practice see where attention is needed.
Receivables are also a signal. A growing group of older claims from one payer, for example, may point to a problem earlier in the revenue cycle that can be addressed at its source.
This article is general information about healthcare business operations. It is not medical, legal or financial advice.
