The Importance Of AR Follow-Up In Medical Billing

With the healthcare field gradually expanding, so will the number of services healthcare providers offer. Typically, in every medical billing department or company, there will be a dedicated Accounts Receivable (AR) follow-up team responsible for making the reimbursement process more efficient, and its main role is to track the claim denial cases and renew them to receive the complete pay-out.

According to a research survey, about a quarter of medical services administered to patients are unpaid. Therefore, building an AR follow-up team is critical to chase and follow-up on payments by the insurer or patient to maintain a consistent stream of revenue that will help sustain your practice’s financial strength.

What Does AR Follow-Up Mean?

Accounts Receivable (AR) refers to the sum owed to healthcare providers for the healthcare services and treatment administered to the patient. After providing the care, medical bills and invoices are created, then sent to the patients’ insurance companies if they are eligible for coverage. This follow-up process helps in reducing the amount of AR days, resolves overdue AR, and tracks denied, unpaid, and pending claims by patients. This ensures that the healthcare provider can offer their services smoothly and receive the payment as soon as possible.

Why Is AR Follow-Up Important?

An AR follow-up team is necessary, especially when healthcare providers are looking to grow their practice. These groups of professionals should be skilled and knowledgeable in tracking and reviewing claims to ensure that overdue, denied or pending payment can be recovered as soon as possible. Another objective of this team is to reduce the number of AR days with outstanding payments and implement the necessary procedures to secure the pay-outs. This would contribute to an upstream of revenue to maintain the financial stability of healthcare services.

While most healthcare providers have digitalized most of their claim submission processes, some are still submitting paper claims. This could be the reason why your AR is overdue or pending, as these claims have not been successfully received by the third-party payer or insurance company.

We recommend switching to the electronic method for a more efficient claim submission process. This cuts out all the unnecessary time to coordinate the logistics, such as sending or waiting to get a mail from the insurer. Additionally, this allows your team to follow up on overdue claims immediately, and choose the right action to speed up the process.

Procedures in AR Follow-Up

There are three main phases for AR Follow-Up in medical billing, which is critical to recovering overdue payments as soon as possible.

  • Initial Evaluation: The first step the AR follow-up team will take is reviewing the AR aging report to track and identify claims that require more immediate action. This depends on the healthcare provider’s adjustment policy and the urgency of the claims. Once the claims are filed, the practice or provider may identify and submit more claims.
  • Analysis and Prioritizing: The next step is analyzing the various reasons for the denied, overdue, or pending claims. In some cases, it could be a mismatch of the payment amount, where the healthcare provider might not have been paid according to the sum stated in their contract with the insurance company.
  • Collection: After all the important billing information is entered, the claims are refilled. The payment details are then posted, and the bills are created according to the healthcare provider’s guidelines. Again, following up with patients is key to ensuring that they are reimbursed within the timeline.

Your Experienced AR Follow Up Team

At KR Billing Solutions, we are highly experienced and have a team specializing in AR Follow-Up to help you ensure that you face as little difficulties as possible when reimbursed for your medical service. In addition, we are equipped with the right programs, software, resources to efficiently and effectively verify the data in the billing process. KR Billing Solutions is here to help you at every step of the way, so you can focus on providing your patients the highest-quality care and treatment they deserve.