The 90-Day Cliff: Why Aged AR Is Costing You More Than You Think

In healthcare billing, time is not just a factor. It is often the difference between revenue collected and revenue lost.

Once a claim reaches 90 days in accounts receivable (AR), the chance of collecting that payment drops by more than 80 percent. This statistic, supported by benchmarks from the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), highlights a critical problem in many billing departments. Too many claims age out and quietly become write-offs.

Why AR Over 90 Days Becomes a Problem

According to the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), AR over 90 days should make up less than 10 percent of your total receivables. When that percentage rises, it points to a breakdown in process.

Claims that sit too long become harder to collect for several reasons:

• Payers deprioritize older claims

• Internal staff shifts focus to newer charges

• Supporting documentation is harder to retrieve

• Appeal windows close, eliminating recovery opportunities

It is not just a delay. It is a drop-off. And once claims fall past the 90-day mark, very few come back.

The Real Cost of Aged AR

It is easy to think of an aged claim as just another number on a report. In reality, it represents multiple losses at once.

Aged AR causes:

• Increased write-offs

• Slower and less predictable cash flow

• More hours spent chasing low-yield claims

• Distorted reporting and financial projections

If these symptoms sound familiar, it may be time to reevaluate the systems and workflows behind your AR.

How to Avoid the 90-Day Cliff

Most aged AR is preventable. It starts with visibility and consistency.

Here are a few practices that help reduce AR over 90 days:

• Monitor AR aging weekly rather than monthly

• Prioritize high-dollar claims before they age out

• Automate reminders and task queues to keep claims moving

• Reassign aging claims to a focused follow-up team

• Analyze denial reasons tied to delayed actions

When AR processes are clear and consistent, fewer claims go untouched and fewer dollars are left behind.

Where Code Quick Fits In

At Code Quick, we help healthcare teams get ahead of aged AR and take control of the revenue cycle. Whether you are dealing with a growing backlog or simply want to improve performance, our team specializes in the kind of follow-up, denial recovery, and claim cleanup that gets results.

If your AR report is starting to tilt the wrong way, let us help you reset the course.