Latest posts
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Escalation Fatigue: Why Your AR Team Canāt Get Through to Payers Anymore
If your AR team spends more time on hold than resolving issuesāor if theyāre constantly being transferred, disconnected, or ācall back later-edāāyouāre not alone. Payers have made it increasingly difficult to escalate inquiries, resolve claim holds, or even speak to a human. The result? Escalation fatigue: a costly blend of burnout, delays, and avoidable write-offs.…
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Under the Radar: How Small Denials Add Up to Big Losses
Itās easy to focus your teamās energy on the big-ticket denialsāhigh-dollar claims that demand attention. But while those denials are obvious, whatās often overlooked are the low-dollar, low-effort denials that quietly accumulate and slowly drain your revenue. The $15 here, the $42 thereāthey may seem insignificant in isolation, but across a month or quarter, these…
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ā³ Silent Denials: When Payers Donāt Respond and A/R Explodes
What Are Silent Denials? Unlike formal denials that generate an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) or denial code, silent denials happen when payers simply donāt respond.The claim isnāt processed, isnāt rejected, and isnāt marked as pending. It justā¦ sits there. Why? Silent denials are dangerous because they: The True Cost of Non-Response Every week that a…
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Portal Paralysis: When Too Many Payer Tools Create More Confusion Than Clarity
Payers promise transparency and efficiency through their online portals, APIs, and dashboardsābut the reality for billing teams is often the opposite. Rather than streamlining workflows, the proliferation of payer-specific tools creates friction, data silos, and duplicated effort. The result? Portal paralysisāwhen your team is logging into dozens of systems a day, but still not getting…
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Appeals That Actually Win: Beyond Templates to Root-Cause Fixes
When Copy-Paste Appeals Stop Working Two months ago, Jason, the revenue cycle director at a midāsized orthopedic practice, noticed a troubling trend. His team was sending appeal letters for denied claims faster than ever, using the same ātriedāandātrueā templates theyād relied on for years. But payer overturn rates were slippingāfrom 68% to just 41%. The…
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The Credentialing Trap: How Delays at the Start Cripple Your Revenue Cycle
Credentialing is often treated as a standalone taskāan administrative checklist that simply needs to be completed before a provider can see patients. But this mindset underestimates the far-reaching consequences of getting it wrong. When credentialing delays occur, the impact ripples downstream: denied claims, unbilled visits, and mounting frustration for patients and staff alike. More Than…
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When Clean Claims Go Dirty: The Hidden Errors Sabotaging Your Reimbursements
The Day the Cash Flow Slowed to a Crawl Last summer, Maria, the practice manager of a busy rural cardiology clinic, was feeling confident. The team had just hit a 94% clean-claim submission rateāa figure that meant faster payments and fewer headaches. But by October, things had changed. Reimbursement timelines were stretching, denials were piling…
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š Appeal or Abandon? A Data-Driven Framework for Smart Denial Triage
The Appeal Dilemma Denials are inevitableābut wasted appeals are optional.Many revenue cycle teams treat denials reactively: appeal everything, escalate if denied again, and hope something sticks. This approach is: Not all denials deserve your time. The question isnāt just can you appeal, but should you? Denial Volume ā Denial Value Denial rates get attention, but…
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š©ŗ Time to Talk TAT: Why Turnaround Time Should Be a KPI in Your Revenue Cycle
What Is Turnaround Time ā and Why Does It Matter? Turnaround time (TAT) refers to the time it takes for a task or process in the revenue cycle to be completed from start to finish. Whether it’s submitting a claim, receiving a payment, responding to a denial, or obtaining prior authorization ā the speed of…
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Template Trouble: How Poor EHR Design Is Killing Clean Claims in 2025
š Your EHR Isnāt HelpingāItās Hurting Your Claims EHR templates were designed to streamline workflows, standardize notes, and help providers meet documentation requirements faster. But in 2025, theyāve become a top source of hidden claim contamination. At Thrive, weāve seen it firsthand: templates meant to speed things up actually introduce patterns that trigger payer audits,…