Services
A/R Follow-Up and Recovery Services
An unpaid claim is not lost yet, but it gets harder to collect every week it ages. We work outstanding insurance A/R in a deliberate order, by filing deadline, value and payer, so the claims most at risk are resolved first and every touch is documented.
- A/R worked by deadline first, then by value and payer
- Status checked through 276/277 transactions, portals and payer calls
- Legacy A/R cleanup after a billing company or system change
7+ yearsIn medical billing and revenue cycle management
Dedicated account managerYour main contact for billing questions
Multi-specialty teamBilling and coding across many specialties
Free billing auditNo patient data needed to get started
What A/R recovery covers
Claim status checks
Electronic 276/277 claim status inquiries first, then payer portals and phone calls, with call reference numbers recorded for every contact.
No-record claims
Claims the payer says it never received are resubmitted with proof of timely filing, such as the clearinghouse acceptance report.
Pending and suspended claims
Claims held for records, coordination of benefits or itemized bills are identified and the missing piece is sent.
Underpayment recovery
Payments below the contracted rate are disputed with the payer, with the fee schedule or contract language attached.
Credit balances and overpayments
Credit balances are researched and refunded correctly. Medicare overpayments must be reported and returned within the deadline set in 42 CFR 401.305, which runs from when the overpayment is identified and can be paused for a timely, good-faith investigation.
Legacy A/R projects
A/R left in an old system or by a previous biller is worked as a separate project, so it does not compete with current claims for attention.
Official sources: eCFR: 45 CFR 162.1402 (claim status standard) (external site), eCFR: 42 CFR 401.305 (reporting and returning overpayments) (external site)
How we prioritize and work A/R
Step 1: Pull the aging
Open claims are exported by payer, age and balance, with each claim's filing and appeal deadlines added.
Step 2: Deadline first
Claims closest to a timely filing or appeal limit are worked first, regardless of size.
Step 3: Then value
Remaining claims are worked from the highest balances down, grouped by payer for efficient calls.
Step 4: Document every touch
Each action, reference number and next follow-up date is noted on the claim, so nothing is worked twice or forgotten.
Step 5: Escalate stuck claims
Claims that stall go to payer provider relations, and where state prompt-pay laws apply, the prompt-pay process.
When A/R recovery is urgent
A biller has left
Follow-up stops the day the person who knew the claims leaves.
You changed PM systems
Balances left in the old system are easy to forget and hard to work alongside new claims.
A/R over 90 days keeps growing
Older balances are the ones most likely to hit filing or appeal limits.
Why the order of follow-up matters
Working A/R from the largest balance down feels productive, but it can let smaller claims slide past deadlines that cannot be extended. A claim that misses its timely filing limit is usually lost permanently, while a large claim that waits another week is not. Sorting by deadline first protects the money that is about to become uncollectable.
Payer behaviour matters too. Some payers resolve issues quickly by phone, others only through portal messages or written reconsideration, and each has its own response time. Grouping claims by payer and using the channel that payer responds to turns a long aging report into a manageable daily list.
Frequently asked questions
How old is too old to collect?
There is no single age. A claim is collectable as long as it was filed on time and is still within the payer's appeal or reconsideration limits. Old claims with proof of timely filing can often still be paid; claims never filed within the limit usually cannot.
What counts as proof of timely filing?
Each payer decides what it accepts, so we check that payer's timely filing policy. For every claim we keep the clearinghouse acceptance report and any payer acknowledgement, which are the records most often requested.
Can you work A/R that is still in our old system?
Yes, with access to the old system or a full A/R export. Working legacy A/R separately keeps it from being missed while new claims run in the new system. This is a standard part of our onboarding.
What happens to credit balances?
Each credit is researched to find out whether it is a payer overpayment, a patient overpayment or a posting error, then refunded or corrected. Government payer overpayments have strict return deadlines once identified.
How is old A/R recovery priced?
Legacy A/R projects are usually priced separately from ongoing billing, either as a percentage of what is recovered or as a flat project fee, agreed after we review the aging report.
Related services and specialties
Related services
Denial Management
Denials worked by reason code and root cause, with corrected claims and appeals filed inside payer deadlines.
Learn more about Denial ManagementPatient Billing
Clear statements, payment options and respectful follow-up for the balances patients owe after insurance.
Learn more about Patient Billing
Specialties
Internal Medicine Billing
Adult chronic disease care: MDM-based E/M, chronic and principal care management, wellness visits, transitional care and risk adjustment documentation.
Learn more about Internal Medicine BillingNeurology Billing
EEG, EMG and nerve conduction coding, botulinum toxin injections with drug units, sleep studies and infusion authorizations.
Learn more about Neurology BillingUrology Billing
Cystoscopy code families, in-office urodynamics and procedures, lithotripsy, prostate biopsy with imaging guidance, vasectomy and injectable drugs.
Learn more about Urology Billing
Have old A/R nobody is working?
Tell us roughly how much is outstanding and how old it is, and we will explain how a recovery project would run.