Accounts Receivable (AR) Management
Recover lost revenue from aged claims and clean up your old AR bucket.
- HIPAA-Compliant
- U.S.-Based Experts
- Free Practice Audit
How We Work an Aging Report, Bucket by Bucket
Every claim on your aging report sits in one of four buckets. Each one needs different work.
0 to 30 days
Current
- Confirm every claim was received and accepted by the payer
- Fix clearinghouse and payer rejections the same day
- Post payments and flag underpayments against contracted rates
A rejected claim never reaches the payer's review. Caught here, it costs minutes instead of months.
31 to 60 days
Follow-Up
- Claim status checks by portal and by phone
- Send requested records or missing information
- Rebill claims the payer has no record of
Clean claims are normally paid within 30 to 45 days, so anything still open after that has a reason. We find it.
61 to 90 days
Escalation
- Corrected claims and reconsideration requests
- First-level appeals with supporting documentation
- Coverage and coordination of benefits problems resolved with the patient or payer
This is the last comfortable window before filing and appeal deadlines start to close.
Over 90 days
Recovery
- Timely filing and appeal limits checked claim by claim
- Second-level appeals and payer escalations
- Honest write-off recommendations for claims that cannot be recovered
Old AR is prioritized by dollar value and by how soon each deadline expires, not by which claim is oldest.
Why Claims Age, and What Fixes Them
Unpaid claims rarely age for mysterious reasons. Almost all of them fall into one of these groups.
| What the report shows | Usual cause | How it gets resolved |
|---|---|---|
| No response from the payer | Claim never received, or rejected at the clearinghouse | Confirm receipt, correct the rejection, and resubmit with proof of timely filing |
| Denied and never worked | Missing information, coding conflicts, or authorization problems | Denial analysis and appeals |
| Pending for more information | The payer asked for medical records or a form that was never sent | Send the records, then follow up until the claim is released |
| Paid, but short | A payment below the contracted rate was posted as paid in full | Review against the fee schedule and file a reconsideration request |
| Coordination of benefits hold | The payer believes another plan should pay first | CO 22: who pays first |
| Timely filing denial | The claim or appeal was sent after the payer's deadline | CO 29: what can still be recovered |
| Patient balance outstanding | A deductible or coinsurance amount was never billed or followed up | Clear statements and consistent, respectful follow-up |
Reading Your Own Aging Report
Two numbers tell you whether accounts receivable is under control. The first is days in AR: your total receivables divided by your average daily charges. The benchmark we manage to is under 40 days, and anything over 50 means cash is arriving weeks later than it should. You can check yours in a minute with our AR Days Calculator, or compare it against the benchmark for your specialty.
The second is how much of your AR is older than 90 days. That bucket matters most because it is where filing deadlines run out. Medicare allows 12 months from the date of service to file a claim, but many commercial contracts allow far less, often 90 to 180 days, and appeal windows are shorter still. A balance that looks collectible on the report may already be past the point where the payer will consider it.
That is why every engagement starts with the aging report itself, sorted by payer and by age, before we promise any recovery. Our guide to days in accounts receivable walks through the formula and the most common reasons the number climbs.
From Aging Report to Recovered Revenue
01
Free Aging Report Review
You send us your aging report. We sort it by payer, age, and balance and tell you what looks recoverable and what is probably past its deadline.
02
Prioritize by Value and Deadline
Claims are ranked by dollar amount and by how close they are to a filing or appeal limit, so the money most at risk is worked first.
03
Work Every Claim
Status checks, corrected claims, records requests, and appeals, all handled inside your existing system so every action is visible to you.
04
Report and Prevent
Monthly reporting shows what was collected and why claims aged in the first place, with fixes for your front desk and billing workflow.
Check Your AR Health
Frequently Asked Questions About AR Management
Old AR recovery is the process of reviewing and working claims that have been unpaid for 60, 90, or 120 plus days. It involves identifying why each claim was not paid, correcting errors, resubmitting where possible, and filing appeals for denied claims to recover revenue that would otherwise be written off.
In most cases we can recover claims up to 120 to 180 days old depending on the payer's timely filing limit. Some payers allow longer windows. We review each claim individually to determine whether recovery is possible before committing time to it.
It depends on the size of your aging bucket and how many payers are involved. Most practices see meaningful recovery within the first 30 to 60 days as we clear the highest value claims first.
No. For old AR recovery work we operate on a performance basis. You only pay when we collect.
Yes. We can take over just the AR follow up function while your existing team handles current claims, or we can manage the full billing cycle. Whatever works best for your practice.
We work inside your existing system. We have experience with Epic, eClinicalWorks, AdvancedMD, Kareo, Athenahealth, and most other major platforms.
Under 40 days is the benchmark most practices should aim for, and over 50 days is a warning sign, although the right target varies by specialty and payer mix. Days in AR is calculated by dividing total accounts receivable by your average daily charges.
AR follow-up works every unpaid claim, including the ones the payer has not responded to at all. Denial management deals specifically with claims the payer has refused to pay, by correcting, appealing, and preventing them. Old AR usually needs both, which is why we handle them together.
Related Services
Denial Management
Denial analysis, appeals, and prevention
Revenue Cycle Management
The full cycle, managed as one process
Medical Billing Services
End-to-end billing for independent practices
Medical Billing Audit
Find where revenue is being missed
Eligibility Verification
Stop denials before the patient visit
Provider Credentialing
Close the enrollment gaps that hold claims
Medical Billing and Coding
Certified coding that holds up to payer review
Outsource Medical Billing
Compare in-house and outsourced billing costs
Recover Your Lost Revenue Today
Send us your aging report for a free confidential analysis and let Astral Medical Services recover your claims.