How hospitals can reduce insurance receivable days
Revenue cycle management for Indian hospitals comes down to three things: clean files, fast replies and tight follow-up.
For many hospitals, insurance receivables are the largest number on the balance sheet that nobody controls. Every day a claim is unpaid is working capital the hospital is lending to the insurer.
Measure it first
- Days from discharge to file submission.
- Days from submission to settlement.
- Share of claims queried, and share paid short.
- Amount outstanding by age: under 30, 30 to 60, 60 to 90 and over 90 days.
Clean files
Most delay comes from queries, and most queries come from gaps in the file. A pre-check of every file before it is sent is the single biggest lever.
Fast replies
Answer each query the same day. Review open queries every morning, oldest first.
Tight follow-up
- Submit the physical file within days of discharge, not weeks.
- Call the TPA about every claim older than 30 days.
- Match bank credits to claims by UTR and chase every short payment.
One view for the finance team
Ekline Claims tracks every claim from admission to payment, shows ageing by payer, and matches bank statements to insurer payments, so the finance team always knows what to chase next.
More from the blog
Documents required for a cashless claim: the complete hospital checklist
The documents insurers and TPAs ask for most often, grouped by the desk that owns them, so nothing is missing when the file is sent.
Cashless claim process in a hospital: a step-by-step guide for the TPA desk
From the patient at the admission counter to the money in the hospital account: the eight steps of a cashless claim, and where each one goes wrong.