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MEDICAL COLLECTIONS

Recover Patient Balances and Payer Receivables

Healthcare providers earn revenue the moment care is delivered. Collecting it is another matter. Patient balances age past 90 days, denied claims sit unworked, and the write-off line keeps growing. We exist for exactly that gap.

Southwest Recovery Services is a medical collection agency. We recover outstanding patient balances and unresolved payer receivables for medical practices, hospitals, and healthcare organizations, and we have been doing this work since 2004. We work on contingency, so you pay nothing unless we collect. We operate as a HIPAA business associate and execute a Business Associate Agreement before any account data changes hands. We are also a member of ACA International.

If your aging report has started to look like a write-off list, we can help you turn it back into revenue.

Our revenue cycle management services cover the full healthcare spectrum, from physician revenue cycle management and hospital revenue cycle consulting to behavioral health revenue cycle management, mental health revenue cycle management, cardiology revenue cycle management, and dermatology revenue cycle management. As a revenue cycle consultant delivering healthcare revenue cycle management, healthcare revenue cycle consulting, and medical billing outsourcing services, our RCM services and revenue cycle improvement services help providers recover more, faster. Outsourcing revenue cycle management to our team turns aging patient and payer AR into predictable cash flow.

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WHAT MEDICAL AR RECOVERY IS

What Is Medical Accounts Receivable Recovery?

Medical accounts receivable recovery is the process of collecting balances that remain after a claim has been billed and adjudicated. Once a payer processes a claim, whatever remains unpaid becomes a receivable: the patient responsibility portion (copays, deductibles, and coinsurance), an underpaid claim, or a denied claim that needs follow-up.

This is recovery work, not billing work. By the time an account reaches us, the coding and claim submission are already done. Our job is to resolve what the billing process could not. We contact patients about outstanding balances, follow up with payers on unresolved claims, and work aged accounts that would otherwise be written off.

Timing matters in this work. A patient balance worked at 60 days resolves at a far higher rate than the same balance at 300 days. The accounts sitting in your aging report lose value every month, and the fix is consistent, compliant follow-up by a team whose only job is recovery.

MEDICAL AR VS BILLING VS RCM

Medical AR Recovery vs. Medical Billing vs. RCM

These three terms get used interchangeably, and they should not be. They are different jobs.

Medical billing is the front end: translating care into CPT and ICD-10 codes, submitting claims to payers, and posting payments. Billing companies create and file claims.

Revenue cycle management (RCM) is the full financial lifecycle of a patient encounter, from scheduling and eligibility verification through charge capture, claim submission, denial management, and final payment. Full RCM vendors run that entire pipeline, including the clinical coding work.

Medical AR recovery, which is what we do, starts after billing has run its course. We do not code claims, submit to primary payers, or manage your billing system. We recover the money your billing process could not: aged patient balances, unresolved insurance claims, and accounts headed for bad debt.

If you need a billing company or a full RCM platform, we are not it, and we will tell you so. If you need the dollars already sitting in your AR, that is our specialty.

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OUR MEDICAL SERVICES

Our Medical Recovery Services

We run four recovery programs for healthcare providers. Most clients use a combination, matched to the age and mix of their receivables.

Patient Balance Recovery

We collect patient responsibility balances after insurance adjudication: copays, deductibles, and coinsurance. Outreach follows a documented, HIPAA-compliant, FDCPA-governed sequence of statements, calls, and payment plan options that treats your patients with respect.

Early-Out Outreach

We work patient balances in the first 30 to 90 days, before they harden into bad debt. Early-out accounts resolve at higher rates, preserve the patient relationship, and shrink the volume that ever reaches third-party status.

Insurance Claim Follow-Up

We pursue unresolved payer balances: denied claims, underpayments, and claims stalled in process. We track filing deadlines, follow each payer’s resolution path, and escalate before recovery windows close.

Third-Party Medical Collections

Aged accounts your team has exhausted move to our licensed third-party collection unit. We pursue them with full documentation, careful dispute handling, and accurate credit reporting practices, and we walk you through litigation decisions if it ever comes to that.

If you are not sure which mix fits your situation, send us your AR aging summary and we will map each segment of it to the right program, with no obligation.

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HIPAA COMPLIANCE

HIPAA Compliance & Healthcare Data Security

Every medical collection engagement involves protected health information, and we treat that as a first-order responsibility, not a checkbox.

We operate as a HIPAA business associate on every healthcare engagement, and we execute a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with every healthcare client before a single account record is transferred. The BAA defines exactly how we may use, disclose, and safeguard PHI, and it comes first, every time.

Inside our operation: our collection teams complete HIPAA training, PHI access is restricted by role to the staff working your accounts, account data moves through secure transfer channels rather than email attachments, and disclosures in patient communications are limited to what the law permits. We document every patient contact.

For patient balance work, the FDCPA applies alongside HIPAA: validation of debts on request, proper dispute handling, and accurate reporting. We are licensed, bonded, and insured in the states where we operate, and we will not trade your compliance posture for a recovered dollar.

PRICING

Medical AR Pricing

All of our medical recovery work is priced on contingency. We charge a percentage of what we actually collect: no retainer, no setup fee, no per-account charge, and nothing owed on accounts we do not recover.

Where your rate lands depends on four factors: account age (early-out balances carry lower rates than aged bad debt), account type (patient balances and insurance follow-up are priced separately), average balance size, and placement volume.

You receive a written rate schedule before we touch the first account, and the rate does not change after placement. To get a quote for your portfolio, contact us. We typically respond within one business day.

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STOP WRITING OFF COLLECTIBLE BALANCES

Get a Quote on Your Medical Receivables

Aged patient balances and unworked claims do not collect themselves. Send us your portfolio and we will return a written rate schedule before we touch the first account, with nothing owed on accounts we do not recover. We typically respond within one business day, and a signed Business Associate Agreement comes first, every time.

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COMMON QUESTIONS

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. We operate as a HIPAA business associate and execute a Business Associate Agreement with every healthcare client before handling any protected health information. Our teams complete HIPAA training, PHI access is restricted by role, and disclosures are limited to what the law permits. We maintain full documentation of all patient communications.

Yes. We recover patient responsibility balances (copays, deductibles, and coinsurance) after insurance adjudication, and we follow up on unresolved payer claims such as denials and underpayments. They are different kinds of receivables and we run a different process for each, but most healthcare clients place both with us.

A BAA is the HIPAA-required contract between a healthcare provider (the covered entity) and a vendor that handles protected health information on its behalf. It defines how PHI may be used, disclosed, and safeguarded. We sign a BAA with every healthcare client before any account data is transferred. It is the first step in every engagement.

All of our medical recovery work is priced on contingency. You pay a percentage of what we actually collect, with no retainer, no setup fee, no per-account charge, and nothing owed on accounts we do not recover. Your rate depends on account age, account type (patient balances and insurance follow-up are priced separately), average balance size, and placement volume. You receive a written rate schedule before we touch the first account, and the rate does not change after placement.

Medical billing is the front end: translating care into CPT and ICD-10 codes, submitting claims, and posting payments. Revenue cycle management is the full financial lifecycle of a patient encounter, from scheduling and eligibility through charge capture, claim submission, denial management, and final payment. Medical AR recovery, which is what we do, starts after billing has run its course and resolves what the billing process could not, including aged patient balances and unresolved payer claims.

Yes. Beyond patient balances, we work unresolved payer receivables, including claims that were denied, underpaid, or left pending after adjudication. We review the remittance details, identify why the claim stalled, and pursue the appropriate follow-up or appeal with the payer. Many practices place both patient responsibility balances and payer claim follow-up with us, because they are different kinds of receivables that each require their own process.

Early-out outreach works patient balances in the first 30 to 90 days, before they harden into bad debt, often using statements and calls under your practice’s name. Accounts handled early generally resolve at higher rates, preserve the patient relationship, and reduce the volume that ever reaches third-party status. Third-party collections handle older balances that have already aged out of your internal process. We offer both and help you match the right program to the age and mix of your receivables.

Yes. Patient balance recovery is consumer collection work, so it is governed by the FDCPA along with the TCPA, Regulation F, and applicable state rules. Our outreach follows a documented sequence of statements, calls, and payment plan options designed to treat your patients with respect while staying within those regulations. Handling patient communications compliantly protects your practice’s reputation and the relationship you have with the people you treat.

For each account we typically need the patient or guarantor contact information, the balance owed and what it represents (patient responsibility versus a payer claim), the date of service, and the relevant billing and remittance detail. Most healthcare clients send this securely from their practice management or billing system. All account data moves through secure channels under the Business Associate Agreement we sign before any records are transferred.

It depends on your goals. For early-out work, placing balances at 30 to 90 days captures them while they are most collectible and keeps them out of bad debt. For aged accounts, the sooner you place them the better, because recovery rates generally decline as balances get older and contact information goes stale. We cannot promise a specific recovery amount, but working accounts sooner gives every program the best chance to succeed.

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RECOVER MEDICAL AR

Recover Your Medical AR

Patient balances and payer receivables lose value every month they sit. Send us a summary of your AR aging, and we will show you what a compliant medical recovery program can return to your practice.

Schedule a Medical AR Consultation