How to Drastically Reduce A/R Days 

In 2025, healthcare cash flow suffers from rising claim denials, delayed reimbursements, and unpredictable insurance timelines. How to Drastically Reduce A/R Days becomes the key question for every practice aiming to stay financially strong. This post dives into practical, fast-acting strategies to shrink outstanding balances and speed up reimbursements. Learn how to automate patient payment reminders, track essential performance metrics, and tackle denials before they impact revenue. Explore current trends and proven workflows top-performing clinics use to boost income by 25–30% through smarter systems and modern technology. Plus, see how Practolytics’ full revenue cycle support transforms payment delays into growth opportunities. Start reducing A/R days today and protect your financial stability.

How to Drastically Reduce A/R Days: Strategies for Aggressive Follow-Up

In today’s healthcare business, cash flow is vital. Your Accounts Receivable (A/R) is money earned but not yet paid. Unpaid claims hurt your cash flow quickly. Reports show that each extra day A/R stays unpaid costs up to 0.5% in lost money due to write-offs or delays.

Yet, many clinics see payment delays as “just how it is.” Unpaid claims over 90 days old, manual chasing, and messy tracking waste staff time and money.  

This blog shows how to slash payment delays fast—using real 2025 tools and trends for simple, strong follow-ups that work.  

Understanding A/R and Why It Matters

A/R (Accounts Receivable) covers unpaid bills from insurers and patients.  

A/R days show your payment wait time after services. For example: 

50 A/R days means your practice waits roughly 50 days for payments.  

Ideal Benchmarks for A/R:

CATEGORY	GOAL (DAYS)
Insurance A/R	< 40 days
Patient A/R	< 30 days
Total A/R	< 45 days

Why reducing Accounts Receivable days matters:  

• It gets cash to you faster.  
• This lowers losses from unpaid bills.  
• It makes money predictions more accurate.  
• It saves staff time for patient care and growth.  

Top medical offices keep A/R days below 35. They also ensure bills over 90 days old stay under 15% of total receivables (MGMA 2024).  

Common Causes of High A/R Days

Before we solve the issue, let’s understand why A/R days climb. 

1. Late Claims

Submitting claims after deadlines causes payment delays.  

Fix: Send every claim within 1–2 days after the visit. 

2. Wrong Details 

Mistakes in patient info or codes lead to rejections.  

Fix: Check insurance and approvals before starting work. 

3. Weak Denial Handling  

Ignoring claim denials or resubmitting without changes causes repeat problems.  

Fix: Find core issues and automate denial alerts. 

4. Manual Claim Tracking  

Staff lose updates when tracking claims by hand.  

Fix: Automate status checks and task reminders. 

5. Missing Visibility

Without dashboards, aging claims hide in the system.  

Fix: Use A/R reports sorted by payer, amount, or age.  

Insight:  

In 2025, 60% of denials happen on the first submission. Better front-end checks and follow-ups can fix most.  

The Power of Aggressive A/R Follow-Up

Aggressive follow-up isn’t about pressure—it’s about precision. Track every dollar efficiently. Chase delays relentlessly until payment lands. Here’s how:

1. Target Accounts Smartly  

Not all claims deserve equal attention. Focus on:  

• Big-ticket balances (larger amounts)  
• Quick-pay insurers (fast cash solutions)  
• Near-deadline claims (timely filing risks)  

Pro tip:  

Sort receivables into buckets—0-30, 31-60, 61-90, 90+ days—and assign dedicated staff.  

Data point:  

Clinics prioritizing high-dollar claims collect 25% faster.  

2. Automate Claim Status Checks  

Stop wasting hours daily on manual claim checks.  

Use tools that link directly to payer portals for real-time updates.  

2025 Trend: AI tools predict claim outcomes and spot denial risks early.  

Automation saves time, cuts errors, and frees your team to handle exceptions. 

3. Standardize Your Follow-Up Schedule

Consistency is crucial. A clear follow-up plan prevents claims from getting stale.

Example Schedule:

CLAIM AGE	ACTION
0–15 days	Submit and confirm receipt
16–30 days	Check payer portal status
31–45 days	Contact payer for update
46–60 days	Escalate to supervisor or rebill
60+ days	Send appeal or secondary claim

Pro tip: 

Document every step in our system. Clear notes track who’s responsible and make audits faster.

4. Strengthen Denial and Appeal Processes

Every denied claim teaches something new. Build a team focused solely on denial management—they’ll spot patterns and fast-track appeals.  

Denial Fix Checklist: 

• Pinpoint top denial reasons (like missing modifiers or eligibility errors).  
• Correct errors right away.  
• Deploy standardized appeal templates.  
• Resubmit before the payer’s deadline.  

Key Stat:

Change Healthcare reports that 65% of denials can be recovered, yet only 35% are appealed. That’s revenue sitting on the table—ready to be claimed. 

5. Improve Front-End Accuracy

Preventing A/R growth begins at registration. Quick fixes:  

• Check insurance instantly.  
• Confirm approvals first.  
• Get co-pays immediately.  
• Review patient details twice.  

Update:  

By 2025, clinics using automated insurance checks cut denials by 28% and A/R time by 20%. 

6. Train and Empower Your Billing Team

Your staff drives success. Train them on:

• New payer rules.
• Updated coding (CPT, ICD-10).
• Denial prevention best practices.
• Clear communication with payers and patients.

Insight: Teams handling both medical billing and follow-up resolve issues faster and reduce staffing risks.

7. Use Analytics to Guide Decisions

Data doesn’t lie. Use A/R dashboards to track key numbers:  

• Total money owed to you.  
• Percent unpaid past 90 days.  
• Average days bills sit unpaid.  
• Top claim denials.  
• How fast do payers settle bills?  

Tip: Run weekly reports and quick team check-ins to stay sharp.  

Fact: Clinics using live A/R dashboards boost cash flow 18% and slash unpaid time 25%.

8. Strengthen Patient Collections

Patients now drive significant revenue—often 30–40% of total income.  

Simplify their payment experience.  

Actions:

• Enable online payment portals  
• Send balance reminders via text  
• Streamline billing statements  
• Provide payment plans for large bills  

Market Insight:

Healthcare digital payments surged 35% in 2024; patients favor fast, mobile options.

9. Partner with an RCM Expert

Sometimes, even your best team needs support.  

Handing older unpaid bills to revenue experts saves time and cuts costs.  

These partners offer:  

• Staff trained in claim denials  
• Tools that automate tracking  
• Know-how on regulations  
• Quicker money recovery  

Update: By 2025, blended setups—keeping control while using specialists for old bills—will be the top choice for mid-sized clinics.  

Key Metrics to Track for A/R Optimization

To ensure your A/R strategy works, track these key numbers:

METRIC	IDEAL TARGET	PURPOSE
Days in A/R	< 40 days	Measures payment speed
% A/R > 90 Days	< 15%	Shows aging backlog
Clean Claim Rate	> 95%	Ensures accuracy at submission
Denial Rate	< 5%	Reflects billing efficiency
Net Collection Rate	> 96%	indicates revenue success

Use these as weekly checkpoints for your finance and billing team.

The 2025 A/R Trends to Watch

• AI Predictive Analytics: AI spots denial risks early and pushes paying claims forward first.
• Unified RCM Platforms: One-stop tools handle scheduling, billing, and chasing payments.
• Patient-Centric Payments: Clear bills with flexible payments boost satisfaction and speed up cash flow.
• Automation in Denial Management: Bots tackle repetitive follow-ups without tiring.
• RCM Outsourcing Growth: Clinics increasingly hire outside experts—20% more by 2025—to recover owed money.

Conclusion: Shorten A/R Days, Strengthen Financial Health with Practolytics

Reducing A/R days means more than just quick payments—it builds financial health and gives staff time back for patients.  

Automated follow-ups using data and know-how deliver the best results.  

That’s Practolytics’ specialty.  

We help healthcare practices shrink A/R days with:  

• Automated tracking for every real-time claim  
• Actionable analytics pinpointing stuck cash  
• Denial systems are speeding up recovery  
• Expert teams trained in payer rules  

Practolytics clients get paid faster:

• Up to 30% shorter payment waits.
• 18% more money collected.
• Fewer claim rejections. 
• Quicker insurance payments.

Stop chasing payments. Start collecting faster. Practolytics transforms your cash flow management today.

Simplify billing. Boost cash flow. Secure your practice’s future — with Practolytics.

ALSO READ – Essential Tips for Error-Free Orthopedic Billing and Coding: Boost Your Practice’s Financial Health