Tips for Dealing with Outstanding Insurance Claims

5 ideas for faster turnaround and fewer rejections on insurance claims.

Updated 6/30/20

I wanted to talk today more about what to do with your outstanding insurance claims. Over my years as an office manager and consultant I have consistently worked with offices that have a staggering amount of claims over 60 days old. A majority of insurance carriers pay within 18-22 days thus eliminating the need to wait until 60 days or more to follow-up on a claim.

“How do I do better at reducing my outstanding claims?” is a question I get asked a lot, and here are some great tips for a faster turnaround and less rejections on your claims:

  • Get the Insurance Manager from Dentrix if you are not currently subscribed to it. The Insurance Manager was the best and least expensive investment with the biggest ROI that we purchases for our office, and I have been recommending it ever since.
  • When you have the Insurance Manager, it will check eligibility for your patients coming in over the next 2 weeks (or the next 200 appointments), and it is imperative that someone actually looks at this report!
    • Just today, I had an office using the Insurance Manager that found over 20 rejected claims due to patients not being eligible at the time of service. If someone would have been monitoring the “E” in the Appointment Book, or looking at this eligibility report, this would have saved them thousands of delayed dollars.
  • Do not wait longer than 30 days to start following up on outstanding claims. The longer it takes to get the claim paid, the harder it is to collect from the patient if insurance did not pay as expected.
  • If you aren’t using the Insurance Manager, make sure to verify all patients’ eligibility before their appointment.
  • Make sure to send all requested documentation, X-rays, and narratives as needed.

I hope these few ideas help reduce the outstanding claims in your practice. 


Learn More

For additional information, read the following articles:

If you found these ideas helpful, learn more about the Dentrix Profitability Coaching Program, where one of our highly skilled and experienced profitability coaches teaches you and your team these and many other great concepts, strategies and ideas. To find out more about Dentrix Profitability Coaching, CLICK HERE.


By Kim Thornton, Dentrix Profitability Coach

Originally published in the Dentrix eNewsletter, July 2019