Put Together an Action Plan in Working Your A/R

    For your insurance pending sections, you can print out your surgeries only since this is your bulk money.  Next, maybe your 80-119 so you can catch any timely filings before they happen.  Then your 120+ to keep those cleaned up.  Next you have 0-79 and finally your personal balances.  Print them all in the same day so as to capture all the accounts.  If you can schedule your reports, it’s best to schedule them at night so they are there and ready to print when you come into work the next day.    

    Work each report until completed and move on to your next one.  Giving yourself a really big kudos for completing a report.  Yes, and don’t forget to say done each time you complete one.  And when you get to your personal balances, those that need a physician’s review to find out if he/she wants them baddebted off or turned over to a collection agency, put those aside and do those all at once after you have made it through the entire report.  Give yourself 30-45 days to complete all the reports.  If you are doing a clean-up, it may take a little more time.  But as you keep going with an action plan for at least the next 6 months, you will see your sections dwindle down and you will get into that 30-45 day window. 

    Your manager may want you to work your AR in a different order and that’s ok.  As long as you have an action plan and stick with it for at least 6 months.  Make sure you have captured all your charges.  It’s the insurance pending you want to make sure you stay on top of in order to avoid timely filings and even timely appeal times. 

    Now if you have more than one provider, let’s say 2-4, your time may be a little longer in between.  But as long as you have an action plan, keep moving forward.  You can change up your reports each go around, just as long as you keep to the sections, or plan, and complete the entire AR section each time before moving to the next section you choose.

    I know it all sounds simple, and I know reality is, we all get overwhelmed and we all have more than one job to do at work.  But the bottom line remains the same, come up with an action plan and stick with it.  It’s not to say you can’t change it around a bit each time and maybe working the sections in a different order, but stick with the plan itself for at least 6 months before changing it completely.  Once you get your AR under control, then stick with what works for you in keeping it under control.

    The same holds true if you are on an electronic system.  Set your parameters to match your action plan and move forward.  All you have to remember is, your surgeries are your bulk money and you want to avoid timely filing and timely appeal time per your contract with the carrier.  Making those your top priorities will keep you afloat and keep you moving forward.  You don’t want to lose money all because you missed filing/re-filing a claim by one day, or missed appealing something by 1 week.  Since most carriers are 90-120 on timely filings and timely appeal time, this is why it’s important to get to those 80-89 day accounts as quickly as possible as well. 

    So come up with your action plan, stick to it and move forward.  And don’t forget to pat yourself on the back each time you finish a report.

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