RecoveAR · Case Study
Rescuing legacy AR after a vendor change, without re-aging the book.
When you inherit an aging report from the prior RCM vendor, the balances do not reset. The date of service still governs every deadline. The migration is where recoverable dollars quietly die, or where they get saved. This is how RecoveAR keeps the clock honest.
Import the inherited book on its original service dates and work each claim against the deadline that already applies to it. Do not treat the transition as a fresh start. A re-aged balance looks new on your dashboard while it is actually expiring against timely-filing, reopening, and appeal windows that never paused for the handoff.
RecoveAR maps the prior vendor's export to true DOS, flags every claim by days-to-deadline before a single touch, and routes the ones closest to closing first.
The trap
Re-aging is the most expensive mistake in a vendor transition
A clean cutover feels like progress. But when the inherited AR lands in a new system dated to the import day instead of the service day, every buckets-and-aging view lies to you. Claims that are 340 days old read as 5 days old. The team works them in comfortable order, and the oldest, most recoverable balances slip past their filing and appeal windows in silence.
A date of service does not care that you switched vendors last Tuesday. The operating principle behind every RecoveAR migration
The clocks you are actually racing
Deadlines set by rule, not by your migration date
These are the real 2026 windows that keep running through a vendor change. RecoveAR calculates each one from true DOS the moment the book is imported, so nothing is triaged by feel.
Medicaid runs on a separate set of clocks entirely. State appeal and timely-filing windows commonly land between 90 and 365 days from DOS, defined per-state in the Medicaid provider manual and fair-hearing rules, and they are the first balances a re-aged book tends to forfeit.
Two ways the handoff can go
The re-aged book versus the preserved book
Balances masquerade as new
- Aging resets to the import date, hiding true claim age
- Oldest, most recoverable claims get worked last
- Timely-filing and appeal windows expire unnoticed
- Write-offs blamed on “the prior vendor” that were still winnable
- No defensible audit trail of when each deadline actually fell
Every claim carries its real clock
- Import mapped to original service dates, not handoff dates
- Days-to-deadline scored before the first touch
- Closest-to-closing claims routed to the front of the queue
- Reopening and redetermination paths triggered while still open
- Clean provenance for every filing and appeal decision
We do not inherit an aging report. We inherit a set of expiring deadlines, and we sort the work by which one dies next. How RecoveAR reads a legacy book
The migration, step by step
How RecoveAR imports an inherited book without losing a day
Ingest to true DOS
Map the prior vendor's export so every claim keeps its original date of service, payer, and last-action history. The aging that appears is the real aging, from day one.
Score days-to-deadline
Calculate each claim's distance to its governing window, timely filing, reopening, redetermination, or the state Medicaid appeal clock, before anyone touches it.
Triage by expiry, not by size
Route the claims closest to closing to the front. A recoverable $180 line expiring this week outranks a comfortable $4,000 line with nine months of runway.
Work the right instrument
Refile within timely-filing where the window is open, open a clerical reopening for correctable errors, and file a redetermination where a determination has already posted, each matched to the deadline that still applies.
Hold a defensible trail
Every deadline calculation, action, and outcome is logged against true DOS, so a denied write-off can be defended and the recovered dollars are auditable end to end.
The guidelines this is built on
Real 2026 rules that govern a preserved legacy book
RecoveAR's deadline logic is anchored to published federal regulation and payer timely-filing rules, not internal assumptions. The named sources:
Medicare timely filing
Claims must be filed within one calendar year of the date of service. This window is unaffected by a change of billing agent or vendor.
SSA §1842(b)(3)(B) · Pub. 100-04 Ch. 1 §70Reopening of claims
Contractors may reopen for clerical error or any reason within one year of the initial determination, and up to four years for good cause.
42 CFR §405.980Redetermination (Level 1 appeal)
A redetermination request must be filed within 120 days of receiving the initial determination notice (MSN or remittance advice).
42 CFR §405.942 · Pub. 100-04 Ch. 29Reconsideration (Level 2 appeal)
A QIC reconsideration must be requested within 180 days of the redetermination notice, the next clock that starts once Level 1 posts.
42 CFR §405.962State Medicaid appeal windows
Timely-filing and appeal deadlines are set per state, commonly 90 to 365 days from DOS, and defined in each state's Medicaid provider manual and fair-hearing rules.
State Medicaid provider manuals · 42 CFR Part 431 Subpart ECommercial payer timely filing
Contractual filing limits vary by payer (frequently 90 to 180 days from DOS). RecoveAR carries each payer's contracted window into the day-to-deadline score.
Payer provider agreements · published payer billing guidelinesInherited a book from the last vendor? Work it before it ages out.
RecoveAR imports your legacy AR on its real service dates, scores every deadline, and puts the closest-to-closing dollars in front of your team, so the transition recovers balances instead of quietly writing them off.
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