Follow these 4 Essential Tips to Minimize Uncollectible Receivables
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Everyday demands on busy accounts receivable departments make it all too easy for collections to fall behind. Here are some tips on minimizing uncollectible receivables:
1 – Stay on top of accounts receivable deadlines.
Insurance companies have very strict rules on timely filing. A best practice is to check a week after submitting a claim to make sure that the claim is on file with the insurance company. After confirming that your claim is on file, make sure to check back on its status within three weeks. This will ensure that none of your claims are denied for “timely filing” issues, and that you catch all denials that need to be corrected. Once a claim has been denied because a payor’s deadline has been missed, a formerly simple recovery can become much more difficult.
2 – Don’t let problems snowball.
If claims don’t get corrected and fixed as soon as you catch them, they will build up month-to-month and your outstanding AR problem will only get worse. You may push it off thinking, “I don’t have time now, I’ll get to it when I can,” but there will always be new work building up.
3 – Look at the big picture.
Dealing with each crisis as it arises won’t solve the problem. A detailed, overall assessment may reveal common causes or systemic issues with a specific payor, process, communication breakdown or inefficiency. Always try to identify why your claims aren’t naturally paying, and try to fix those problems globally so they don’t repeat every month.
4 – Take a proactive, predictive approach.
At minimum, schedule a monthly review. Regular reporting—and follow-through—is essential to tracking trends over time and solving problems while they are still manageable.
You don’t have to go it alone.
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