# What EFT Enrollment Changed in One Therapy Practice’s Payment Workflow

Brace Health’s perspective on how EFT and ERA enrollment affected one therapy practice’s payment and reconciliation process.

## Our perspective: enrollment is only complete when the payment trail works

At one therapy practice, payers mailed paper checks and remittances to the office. Staff deposited checks and uploaded documents weekly for reconciliation. The interval from claim submission through account reconciliation often ran 30–45 days.

The office manager later completed fee-free EFT/ACH enrollment with the relevant payers. We cross-checked paper and electronic explanations of benefits and payment portals during the changeover. Improvements appeared within 7–14 days, depending on the payer, and the cadence then averaged 7–10 days from claim submission through payment receipt and reconciliation.

Those time ranges describe one practice’s experience, not a formal study, universal benchmark, or promise. Payer requirements and timelines differ.

## EFT and ERA are separate workflow questions

Electronic funds transfer (EFT) describes the movement of payment to the provider. Electronic remittance advice (ERA) describes how the payer processed a claim. A practice may need to complete and confirm both enrollment steps, and should verify where the remittance will arrive. A submitted form alone does not prove that either workflow is active.

For each payer, we recommend keeping a simple tracker for the enrollment request, responsible owner, confirmation, delivery destination, first remittance, and matching deposit. Continue to investigate exceptions until the electronic record and the funds reconcile.

## What to check before changing the process

- Identify which payers still send paper checks or remittances.
- Confirm whether EFT and ERA enrollment are separate for each payer.
- Review any enrollment fees or payment-method terms before accepting them.
- Assign an owner and record confirmation for each enrollment.
- Reconcile the first electronic remittance with the corresponding deposit and billing record.

The operational lesson is that enrollment needs follow-through: check that the new payment path works and that no items were left behind. This example describes one workflow, not a forecast for another practice.