In 2026, the average initial claim denial rate increased to 11.8%, up from 10.2% in previous years. This increase in denials has a direct impact on accounts receivable (AR) days, causing reimbursement delays and straining healthcare providers’ cash flow. AR management is critical for ensuring financial stability and operational effectiveness.
Athenahealth’s technologies, including athenaIDX™, have significantly improved AR management. Practices using athenaIDX™ saw a 28% reduction in AR days and a 48% drop in claim lag days. These improvements prove essential for practices seeking to streamline their revenue cycle and reduce administrative tasks.
This blog will go over practical techniques for reducing AR days in Athenahealth’s environment. By employing these strategies, healthcare providers can enhance revenue cycle efficiency, reduce claim denials, and secure prompt reimbursements, ultimately leading to improved financial health and patient care outcomes.
How to Reduce AR Days in Athenahealth
To reduce AR days in Athenahealth, you must first have a clear picture of your existing revenue cycle, then handle claims efficiently and make data-driven decisions. The correct combination of workflow improvement, automation, and employee training can drastically enhance cash flow and eliminate payment delays.
Understand Your Current AR Metrics
Analyze your AR data to identify claims that are more than 30, 60, or 90 days old. Look for trends in denials, payer response times, and claim aging. Metrics can help you prioritize follow-ups efficiently.
- Monitor claim aging and denial rates.
- Compare AR days to the rest of the industry.
- Set baseline measures for comparison.
Optimize Claim Submission and Scrubbing
Submit claims appropriately to reduce denials and delays. When submitting your claim, use Athenahealth’s claim scrubbing tools to find any missing or incorrect information. Consistent quality inspections increase revenue cycle efficiency.
- Validate patient information and coding accuracy.
- Use automatic scrubbing tools to avoid errors.
- Maintain submission checklists for staff.
Automate Eligibility and Authorization Verification
Automate eligibility checks and prior authorizations to minimize errors and delays. Athenahealth workflows make approval verification easier before services are supplied. This enables speedier claim processing.
- Confirm the patient’s insurance coverage in advance.
- Automate authorization submission for large-volume claims.
- Monitor approvals and expiration dates proactively.
Streamline Payment Posting and Follow-Up
Using Athenahealth automation technologies, you can post payments accurately and efficiently. Monitor outstanding accounts and follow up on unpaid claims to ensure consistent cash flow.
- Payments are automatically matched to claims.
- Send reminders for delinquent balances.
- Track partial payments to ensure correct accounting.
Updated Reporting and Analytics
Use Athenahealth dashboards to monitor AR trends, claim denials, and payer performance. Reports contain practical insights for continual improvement.
- Create AR aging and denial trend reports.
- Identify recurring claim concerns based on payer or service.
- Prioritize follow-up activities based on data.
Train Staff on Best Practices
Educate billing and coding teams about AR management methods, claim submission standards, and follow-up procedures. Regular training improves accuracy and efficiency.
- Conduct regular claim-handling workshops.
- Share revised standards for eligibility and authorization.
- Provide regular feedback on performance measures.
Common Challenges and Solutions in AR Management
Managing accounts receivable (AR) in healthcare is becoming increasingly complex. In 2026, practices are expected to experience ongoing issues that will lead to an increase in AR days, affecting cash flow and operational efficiency. Addressing these concerns is critical to financial stability.
Payer Delays
Payer delays are still a substantial impediment to prompt payments. In 2026, providers expect payments to be delayed an average of 32 days. These delays might upset financial planning and put a strain on available resources.
Solutions:
Automate Follow-ups: Employ automated methods to monitor and respond to pending claims with as little delay as possible.
Prioritize High-Value Claims: Applying analytics, find and prioritize claims with greater reimbursement amounts.
Maintain Direct Communication: Maintain open channels of communication with payer reps to expedite claim resolution.
Coding and Documentation Errors
Coding errors remain the top cause of claim denials. According to the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), the average cost of redoing a refused claim ranges from $25 to $118, depending on its complexity. These inaccuracies not only cause delays in payments but also raise administrative expenditures.
Solutions:
Regular Audits: Conduct periodic audits to find and correct coding problems before submitting claims.
Staff Training: Provide ongoing training for coding staff to ensure that they are up to date on the latest coding standards and payer requirements.
Utilize Technology: Use advanced coding software and claim scrubbing tools to reduce human errors.
Staff Workflow Inefficiencies
Inefficient workflows contribute to longer AR days. According to the shocking prediction, revenue cycle inefficiencies could cost healthcare providers up to $16.3 billion in revenue loss this year alone. Streamlining processes is critical for improving cash flow.
Solutions:
Process Optimization: Assess and enhance workflows to remove bottlenecks and duplicate jobs.
Staff Allocation: Ensure productivity in the workflow with proper workforce levels and task assignments.
Implement technology: Use revenue cycle management (RCM) software to unify many activities and streamline operations.
Best Practices to Reduce AR Days in Athenahealth
Reducing AR days is critical for ensuring a sustainable cash flow and operational effectiveness. Healthcare companies that employ standardized processes can reduce delays and denials or increase overall revenue cycle performance.
1. Standardize Claim Submission
- When submitting claims, ensure that they are complete and contain relevant patient information and coding.
- Utilize Athenahealth’s automated claim scrubbing to detect issues quickly and avoid rework.
- Prioritize high-value claims to reduce payment periods.
2. Automate Eligibility and Authorization Checks
- Before patients visit, use Athenahealth workflows to verify their insurance eligibility and authorizations.
- Reduce the need for manual follow-ups by using automated warnings for missing or pending authorizations.
- Monitor payer updates to reduce denials due to outdated coverage information.
3. Streamline Payment Posting
- Athenahealth’s integrated payment posting solutions enable you to post payments quickly.
- Reconcile payer remittances automatically to save time and reduce errors.
- Use AI-based payment matching to speed up posting and reduce AR days.
4. Enhance Denial Management
- Track denials in real time to detect patterns and prevent recurrence.
- Assign staff to work on high-value denied claims to speed up resolution.
- Use Athenahealth reporting to identify patterns and modify workflows.
5. Invest in Staff Training
- Educate billing and coding teams about best practices and payer requirements.
- Provide quarterly training on new rules, upgrades, and Athenahealth features.
- Encourage cross-training to increase flexibility and operational coverage.
Conclusion
Effectively managing AR days in Athenahealth is critical for sustaining consistent cash flow and operational effectiveness. Accurate claim submission, automated eligibility checks, and faster payment posting can all help to eliminate delays and denials. Proactive denial management ensures that high-value claims are processed quickly, and constant monitoring enables data-driven decision-making.
Ongoing staff training enhances efficiency and accuracy, helping teams to handle workflows with confidence. Using Athenahealth products improves revenue cycle performance, accelerates reimbursements, and supports long-term financial success. These approaches reinforce AR management and lay the foundation for long-term operational stability.
FAQs
What does it mean to reduce AR days in Athenahealth?
Reducing AR days in Athenahealth means decreasing the average time it takes to collect payments, improving cash flow, and revenue cycle efficiency.
How can Athenahealth help improve AR management?
Athenahealth tools, such as athenaIDX™, streamline claim submission, automate eligibility checks, and provide real-time reporting to minimize delays and errors.
What are the common causes of increased AR days?
Common causes include payer delays, coding and documentation errors, and inefficient staff workflows that slow claim processing and payment posting.
Which best practices help lower AR days in Athenahealth?
Best practices include standardizing claim submission, automating eligibility checks, streamlining payment posting, proactive denial management, and staff training.
How does staff training impact AR days?
Ongoing training ensures billing and coding teams follow accurate procedures, reducing errors, denials, and delays, which directly lowers AR days.
