ASCs should benchmark net collection rate to determine whether they're fighting hard enough to get what they're owed, according to Regent RCM.
Three insights:
1. Net collection rate is the percentage of payments collected compared to how much was supposed to be collected.
2. ASCs should aim for a net collection rate of greater than 97 percent.
3. A rate lower than 97 percent indicates business office staff should be more persistent about collecting from contracted payers.
"We know that there'll always be exceptions, such as patients that go to collections because they just don't have the money to pay their responsibilities — that's bad debt. There will be things like a denial because you didn't get an authorization and the payer just won't pay it — that, too, becomes a portion of bad debt," said Erin Petrie, Regent RCM's director of revenue cycle management. "Given those considerations, being at 97 percent is very good."