# Why Delayed Claim Submission Can Create Cash-Flow and Timely-Filing Risk

Trace the steps between a completed therapy visit and claim submission, find handoff delays, and verify filing limits payer by payer.

## Find where the work is waiting

A completed visit does not automatically become a submitted claim. Documentation may still need to be signed or corrected, a charge may need review, required information may be missing, or a claim may be waiting in a system handoff. Until the practice identifies the first stalled step, a dashboard showing “not submitted” does not explain what action will move the claim.

Trace a sample of delayed claims from date of service through documentation completion, charge review, claim creation, clearinghouse transmission, and payer acknowledgement. Record the time at each step and the party responsible for the next action. Look for patterns by location, provider, payer, or handoff rather than assuming every late claim has the same cause.

## Reduce preventable delay

- Set a clear owner and expected next step for work awaiting documentation or correction.
- Review completed visits that have not yet entered the billing workflow.
- Reconcile claims prepared in the practice system with clearinghouse acceptance and payer-level acknowledgement.
- Escalate recurring handoff problems to the team that controls that step.
- Track unresolved exceptions and their next follow-up date, not only the number of claims submitted.

An intermediary’s acceptance may not mean the payer has the claim, and a delayed claim is not necessarily lost. Confirm the exact status before resubmitting to avoid creating duplicates.

## Check filing limits by payer

Timely-filing rules depend on the payer, plan, contract, claim type, and applicable exceptions. Medicare fee-for-service generally requires claims to be filed no later than one calendar year after the date of service, subject to defined exceptions. That rule should not be applied to commercial or other government plans without checking their current terms.

Maintain a payer-specific reference for the relevant deadline, source, date checked, and any contract-specific rule. If a claim is near a deadline, confirm the requirement with the payer and follow the practice’s escalation process promptly.

## How Brace Health fits

Brace Health’s billing work includes following claims through unresolved steps and communicating blockers to the practice. The practice remains responsible for timely clinical documentation and information it must supply. A useful status report should show what is waiting, who owns the next action, and when the item will be checked again—not imply every delay is within the billing team’s control.