Quick answer: A New York multi-specialty hospital recovered $2.1M in aged AR in six months with QWay Healthcare, cut its 90+ day AR by 39%, brought AR days from 58 to 43, and made collection turnaround 28% faster. A dedicated, specialty-organized AR recovery team worked a ranked backlog while the hospital's own staff kept current claims moving.
How One Revenue Team Cut 90+ Day Aging by 39% and Pulled 15 Days Out of Its AR Cycle
The hospital opened the engagement with more than $10M outstanding and 58 AR days. Six months later, its team had recovered $2.1M and closed at 43.
Overview
A New York multi-specialty hospital was carrying more than $10M in outstanding accounts receivable. Almost a third of that balance had aged past 90 days, which meant a large share of it was drifting toward the point where no one would collect it. The team that knew how to work those accounts had turned over, so leadership brought in outside specialist capacity rather than hire and train against a backlog that was growing every month. In six months, they recovered $2.1M, cut the 90+ day bucket by 39%, and brought AR days from 58 to 43.
Impact & Key Metrics
| Measure | Start | Six months later |
|---|---|---|
| Aged AR recovered | 0 | $2.1M |
| AR aged 90+ days | 32% of balance | down 39% |
| AR days | 58 | 43 |
| Collection turnaround | baseline | 28% faster |
| Total outstanding AR | $10M+ | not a comparable figure |
A note on that last row. New charges load into AR every day the hospital sees patients, so the closing balance measures volume as much as it measures recovery. A $2.1M recovery does not show up as a $2.1M drop in the ending number. AR days and the 90+ day percentage are the honest measures here, and both moved.
Challenge
Every hospital finance leader knows what a 90+ day column looks like when it stops shrinking. This team was looking at 32% of a $10M+ balance sitting in it.
None of it had been written off. The team simply had not reached it. Payer follow-up covered the newest claims and the largest obvious balances, and the accounts underneath kept sliding down the aging report. Denials that needed a second touch got one late or never. Appeals that had a live window stayed in the queue until it closed. Each month the team cleared what it could reach, and each month the older buckets got older.
At 58 AR days, the CFO could not forecast cash inside a range worth presenting. Every quarter carried a number no one could defend, built on a balance no one could age with confidence.
Staffing was the constraint underneath all of it. The billing team had turned over, and experienced AR staff took the payer knowledge and the specialty know-how with them when they left. In a multi-specialty hospital, working an aged account in one service line is a different skill from working one in another, and rebuilding that bench takes longer than a growing aging report allows. Leadership decided against hiring their way out of a backlog that was growing faster than they could train against it, and brought in outside specialists instead.
Solution
Nobody works a $10M backlog account by account. The first job was deciding what to touch.
QWay Healthcare stood up a dedicated AR recovery team organized by specialty and put a triage model in front of it. AI-driven denial prediction and analytics scored every account on five variables: how long it had aged, what it was worth, where the payer stood, how complex the denial was, and how likely it was to be recovered. That produced a ranked list instead of a pile.
Specialists then worked the top of that list, with priority going to accounts that combined high aging days with high recovery potential. Those two together are what a hospital loses first. An old account with strong recovery potential is money still on the table this month and gone next month, so it outranks a newer account worth more on paper.
The hospital's own staff kept current claims moving while the recovery team took the backlog. Splitting the work that way is what made both halves possible. A billing team that spends its week chasing 120-day accounts stops protecting the 30-day ones, and next quarter's aging report shows it.
Results, Before and After
Before QWay Healthcare:
- More than $10M in outstanding AR
- 32% of the balance aged past 90 days
- 58 AR days
- Payer follow-up reaching only part of the queue, with recovery opportunities closing unworked
After QWay Healthcare, at six months:
- $2.1M in aged AR recovered
- 90+ day AR down 39%
- 43 AR days, a 15-day improvement
- Collection turnaround 28% faster
The 15 days matter more than the $2.1M. On a hospital of this size, 15 AR days of working capital moved from a receivable the CFO was waiting on to cash the CFO was holding, and it stays moved for as long as the team holds 43.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the hospital's AR situation before the engagement?
The New York multi-specialty hospital was carrying more than $10M in outstanding AR, with 32% of that balance aged past 90 days and 58 AR days. The billing team had turned over, and payer follow-up was reaching only part of the queue.
What results did QWay Healthcare deliver?
In six months, the hospital recovered $2.1M in aged AR, cut its 90+ day AR by 39%, brought AR days from 58 to 43, and made collection turnaround 28% faster.
How were aged accounts prioritized?
AI-driven denial prediction and analytics scored every account on how long it had aged, what it was worth, where the payer stood, how complex the denial was, and how likely it was to be recovered. Specialists worked the top of that ranked list, prioritizing accounts that combined high aging days with high recovery potential.
Why didn't total outstanding AR drop by $2.1M?
New charges load into AR every day the hospital sees patients, so the closing balance measures volume as much as recovery. AR days and the 90+ day percentage are the honest measures, and both moved.
The Bottom Line
A $10M backlog moved inside two quarters without a billing reorganization and without a system replacement. This team separated backlog work from current work, gave the backlog to people who do only that, and held 43 days through the end of the engagement.
Where This Applies
Aged AR is a sequencing problem, and it compounds while a billing team stays fully occupied with current work. Hiring against it rarely closes the gap, because the payer knowledge that makes an AR specialist effective walks out the door with every resignation and takes months to rebuild.
If your aging report has a 90+ day bucket you cannot explain, start with a revenue baseline review. QWay Healthcare will quantify what is recoverable, what is aging out, and what it is costing in AR days before either of us discusses scope.
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