3 Tips for managing low-dollar AR

If a primary care practice is avoiding management of low-dollar accounts receivables (AR), the first question to ask is: Why? Yes, the volume is higher – often much higher – than “normal” AR, and, as the name implies, the dollar value for each account is low. Cumulatively though, there is tremendous value in effectively managing and resolving these balances. Our data shows that up to 80% of open hospital insurance accounts fall under the low-dollar designation and account for as much as 15% percent of outstanding revenue. When it comes to physician groups, all AR is inherently low dollar, so developing an effective work strategy is vital to financial success. This is especially true for independent physicians in private practice that don’t have access to the same resources as large physician groups.

In general, the approach to low-dollar AR at health care organizations is poor as internal teams often ignore these accounts for larger balances that have a better return on the time spent to collect. While this may make sense from a resourcing perspective, there are a variety of ways to close the gap to collect these high-value balances rather than leaving money on the table.

Instead of dismissing that critical 15% of revenue, there is a three-tiered strategic approach to profitably managing and effectively resolving low-dollar AR.

It's time to embrace low-dollar AR. Why pass on collectible revenue? There is high value in creating a plan to collect low-dollar balances now. And it can be done effectively, efficiently, and profitably by adhering to the three pillars of low-dollar AR above.

Kyle Sherseth is vice president of revenue cycle solutions at Savista RCM, with 15 years of experience in revenue integrity, payment validation, and charge description master (CDM) management. He previously led Savista’s CDM advisory team that delivers CDM compliance, pricing, and maintenance support to clients. He holds a Certified Health Care Financial Professional certification through Healthcare Financial Management Association and is a price transparency subject matter expert.