Accounts Receivable (A/R) is the pulse of your dental practice's financial health. When A/R is neglected, it doesn't just "sit there"—it devalues. The longer a dollar stays in A/R, the less likely you are to ever collect it. A successful dental practice doesn't view A/R as a "cleanup project" for the end of the year; they view it as a repeatable weekly workflow that keeps the engine running smoothly.
The goal of a high-performance A/R system is Velocity. You want to move a claim from "Sent" to "Paid" as quickly as possible. When a claim hits a roadblock, your system should trigger an immediate response. Here is the step-by-step framework for managing your receivables in 30-day buckets.
The Golden Rule of A/R Management
Every claim over 30 days old must have a Next Action and a Follow-up Date. If a claim is sitting in your aging report without a note explaining what happened and what the next step is, it is "Revenue Leakage."
The 30/60/90-Day System
1. The 0–30 Day Bucket: Verification & Early Correction
This is the "Healthy Zone." Most claims should pay within this window. Your focus here is on proactive verification rather than chasing money.
- Confirm Acceptance: Within 48 hours of sending, check your clearinghouse reports. Did the payer actually accept the claim?
- Fix Data Errors: 90% of early rejections are due to simple typos—wrong DOB, wrong Member ID, or a misspelled name. Fix these immediately to restart the clock.
- Attachment Check: Ensure that high-value claims (crowns, perio) were sent with the required X-rays. Don't wait for a request for more info.
2. The 31–60 Day Bucket: Active Follow-Up
If a claim reaches this bucket, it's a red flag. Something is holding it up. This is where your biller needs to spend time in the payer portals or on the phone.
- Identify the Status: Is it "Received and Processing," "Denied," or "Pended for Information"?
- Respond to Requests: If the payer says they sent a letter asking for a narrative, don't wait for the mail. Upload the narrative to their portal today.
- Check Timely Filing: Some plans have 60 or 90-day filing limits. Ensure you haven't missed your window for a corrected claim.
"The 45-day mark is the danger zone. If you haven't resolved a claim by day 60, your chances of a smooth payout drop by 50%."
3. The 61–90+ Day Bucket: Escalation & Appeals
Claims in this bucket are costing your practice money in administrative time. They require a more aggressive approach.
- Payer Escalation: Ask for a supervisor if you have been given the runaround on a specific claim for over two months.
- Formal Appeals: If a claim was denied for medical necessity, don't just "resubmit." Write a formal appeal package including a strong clinical narrative and intra-oral photos.
- Financial Review: Decide if the claim is still collectable or if it's time to have a conversation with the patient about their balance.
The A/R "Health Dashboard"
To manage this system, you need visibility. A modern A/R dashboard should track:
- Net Days in A/R: How long does the average dollar stay unpaid? (Goal: under 40 days).
- Aging %: What percentage of your total A/R is over 90 days? (Goal: under 10%).
- Denial Trends: Are you seeing the same denial reason over and over? This points to a front-end registration problem.
Conclusion
A/R excellence is about discipline, not magic. By breaking your follow-up into these 30-day phases, you ensure that no dollar is ever truly "lost." At Apexita, we build the automated tracking tools that make this workflow effortless for your team. Tired of seeing your hard work stuck in a "90-day" bucket? Let's turn your A/R into a high-velocity asset.