Accounts receivable (AR) in medical billing is just the money people, insurance companies, or other payers owe your healthcare provider. With so many rules to follow, handling healthcare accounts receivable billing can be tricky, but it is super important to keep things running smoothly and make sure your practice stays financially healthy!

Late, low, or denied payments are big problems that healthcare systems have to deal with a lot. But here is the good news: AR management is something a medical billing company can help you with to make life easier! Experts can jump in and help you take the right steps to collect money owed, so your healthcare accounts receivable billing management stays in great shape.

But, before you implement the crucial tips to streamline a perfect healthcare accounts receivable billing management, you must know what accounts receivable is-

Have a clear understanding of AR:

You should send a medical claim within 72 hours after a service. If it’s a "clean" claim and sent electronically, you could get paid in just two weeks! But sometimes, things slow down, and payments get delayed. You must ensure robust AR management so that you can always receive timely payments and a steady revenue foundation.

If you are having trouble collecting payments and overdue bills are stacking up, it makes your "days in AR" go up—that’s how long it takes, on average, to get a claim paid based on daily charges. To check how your practice is doing financially and find ways to get better, you must keep an eye on your days in AR!

Fortunately, you can manage your healthcare accounts receivable billing process efficiently by implementing the following steps.

Highly effective methods to improve healthcare accounts receivable billing:

Perform patient-eligibility verification carefully:

When you understand a patient’s current insurance info, you can see what is covered and what they will need to pay. Insurance verification specialists help by checking and confirming details like their insurance, demographics, and contact info.

You should update patient records before their appointment so the insurance verification specialist can check their coverage with the insurance company. Checking each time helps spot any old balances the patient might need to pay.

Focus more on patient education:

It is always important for you to make your patients aware of their insurance benefits and potential out-of-pocket payments so that they can avoid any payment-related surprises. You can ensure a perfect patient education methodology by drafting a clear policy that clearly outlines your payment expectations.

If you want to shorten your days in AR, make sure you’re collecting all copays, prepayments, and any unpaid amounts when patients come in. After the appointment, send out clear statements showing when payments are due, how they can pay, and who to contact with questions. Give them a few ways to pay to make it easy. Also, keep an eye on patient aging reports so you know who still owes you. Follow up with anyone who has an outstanding balance, and create a simple plan to work with patients who pay quickly and those with bigger balances.

Have a clear line of communication with payers:

You must track all the payments that you are receiving from insurance companies. Identify the issues that you slowing down your payment flow. A professional healthcare billing company can handle this for you by setting up a monthly report that shows you how long it is taking to get paid by different payers. This report helps you see what each payer still owes, what’s overdue, and if that number’s going up. They will also keep track of each claim, so any denials or rejections get fixed and sent back.

Always remember one thing the financial foundation of your practice depends heavily on your management of healthcare accounts receivable billing. You can always enjoy a streamlined billing process, excellent cash flow and prompt payments by implementing all the strategies mentioned above.