The financial health and well-being of your practice is important. It is the oxygen mask that you place on yourself first, so that you can help others in need. When your practice is financially healthy, the atmosphere is free of unnecessary strain; allowing you and your staff to readily carry those who require your services. Therefore, for you and your staff to perform at your optimum potential, positively impacting those in need of treatment for addictions or behavioral health, certain stressors need to be eliminated from your plate.
Stressors can immobilize individuals mentally and physically, hindering productivity in a practice. They cause sleepless nights. It is important, therefore, for all CEO’s and practioners to identify their current stressors that can be delegated to either another staff member or an outsourced billing service.
Right now, is your aging accounts receivable (AR) report a stressor in your practice?
What is the Aging AR Report?
The aging AR report summarizes all unpaid insurance and/or client invoices and is listed by date ranges. This report is a great barometer for measuring the overall financial health of your practice, as it assesses revenue cycle. If it reveals poor revenue generation, it pinpoints the need for a change in revenue management strategy; while at the same time, if it reveals positive revenue generation it identifies a strong revenue management strategy.
This report should be run weekly, if not, at a minimum it should be run monthly; for quick follow up with insurances or patients with unpaid balances past 30 days.
The report is generated on your billing software and is broken down in 30 day increments.
- 0-30
- 31-60
- 61-90
- 91-120
- 121 +
Profitable practices have more than 85% of their AR paid within 90 days; while unprofitable practices (often seen as in debt) have an AR with a high percentage above 180 days.
Today, when you look at your aging AR report, what is your percentage paid within 90 days?
Why it is Important to Regularly Monitor the Aging AR Report
It is important to regularly monitor your aging AR report for a couple of reasons. Some of these reasons include:
- Scheduling – Aging AR reports reveal patients’ unpaid balances. They help schedulers flag patients who have overdue balances of 30 days or more, preventing future treatments that may add to the unpaid balance.
- Identify Insurances that are Slow in Reimbursement – AR management may find a trend amongst specific insurances that are slow in reimbursing claims. This may be a red flag for future treatments with said insurance.
- Identifies Human Errors – The aging AR report provides the last statement date for a patient, and can reveal whether a patient statement was not sent out.
- Identifies Future Revenue – The aging AR report identifies the revenue that is owed to the office for services already completed.
Outsourcing Behavioral Health Billing
If you are experiencing escalating account receivable (AR) days with delays in insurance payments, and increasing stress levels in-house with time management problems, consider outsourcing your billing or ask for onsite training for AR staff management.
Outsourcing reduces the complexity of behavioral health billing by eliminating your need to learn the bureaucracy of insurance billing; while allowing you to focus on growing your practice, strengthen your area of expertise, and provide quality patient care. It is the pragmatic choice for all who desire a decrease in stress levels, while enhancing time management and productivity in-house.
Reducing your AR days with Billing Solutions will ease your mind, as you allow our staff’s commitment to excellence and cutting edge software to alleviate your stress. We customize our process and tailor our services to meet your needs so that the revenue and vitality of your practice is at its best.