Expert: Arthur Naman - 10/28/2008

Question
what is the correct way to age an account.  is it from the date of service or the date of payment from an insurance company?  so if a patient is seen on 10/1 and insurance doesnt pay until 12/10 is the account 30 days old on 10/31 or on 1/9?

Answer
An accounts receivable is incurred at the time of the sale. So normally the A/R would "begin" on 10/1 in your example.

When I go to the Dr. I agree to be responsible for the bill if the insurance company does not pay. Thus my responsibility begins on the date of service, not the date the insurance company does not pay.

With that said, there may be specific practices for the health/insurance industry that I am not aware of.