Separate earlier claims from new work
Treat old AR as its own workstream. Define the boundary by the dates of service or other terms specified in your agreements—not simply the day a payment arrives.
Ask the outgoing biller, incoming biller, and practice to confirm which open work each will own. Include unresolved payer claims, appeals, secondary claims, and patient balances. A total balance alone does not tell you who is responsible for the next action.
Keep that boundary visible in the reports you use to oversee the transition.
Agree what run-out actually includes
A run-out period is the agreed time during which the outgoing billing team continues handling specified earlier work after the handoff. Do not assume that every agreement includes the same period or tasks.
Before cutover, put these questions in writing:
- Who follows unpaid earlier claims and responds to denials?
- Who receives payer responses and posts payments?
- Who handles secondary claims and patient-balance questions?
- Which systems and records remain accessible?
- How will unresolved items be reported at the end?
Check the answers against your contracts. If responsibilities are disputed or unclear, resolve them with the relevant parties rather than assuming the incoming company will absorb the work.
Understand the new biller's scope
Ask explicitly whether the new engagement includes inherited AR. If it does, request a defined scope, responsible team, access requirements, and stop conditions.
At Brace Health, inherited AR is excluded from standard service. Our documented start-date boundary separates earlier encounters from the work included in the new engagement. A limited inherited-AR exception requires approval and a fully executed addendum; it is not an ongoing collection service or a guarantee of recovery.
Do not plan your transition around an exception that has not been agreed.
Review what remains—not just how old it is
Keep a list of unresolved balances with their current status, last action, next step, and owner. Ask why an item is still open before deciding its disposition.
Age alone is not a reason to automatically write off a balance. Any adjustment or closeout decision should follow your practice's approved policies and the applicable agreement.
A useful owner test is: Can we explain who will act on every earlier claim that receives a payer response after the switch?
If not, the old-AR handoff still needs work. Talk with a Brace expert about the start-date boundary and service scope before changing your therapy billing partner.