Avoiding Payment Gaps in Insurance Operations

The external cost of poor cashflow management. How to mitigate against delayed customer payments. As Treasurers, there's often focus on internal efficiencies, optimizing collections, tightening credit terms, streamlining invoicing. But what happens when the real issue isn’t internal… but lies with the customer’s own poor cashflow management? Yes, your customers might be experiencing operational or financial inefficiencies, delaying their ability to pay on time despite your best efforts. Here’s how you can proactively manage this risk: ➔ Tiered Credit Assessment Go beyond the standard credit check. Evaluate a customer’s cashflow patterns, business model sustainability, and industry seasonality. This helps anticipate delays from otherwise “good” customers. ➔ Build Cashflow-Based Payment Terms Negotiate flexible terms that align with the customer’s own cash inflow cycles. For instance, if their cash peaks mid-month, structure payment due dates accordingly to improve compliance. ➔ Offer Early Payment Incentives, but Smartly Use discounts as a tool only where margin allows. Structure tiered discounts that encourage faster payments without hurting profitability. ➔ Strengthen Customer Engagement Sometimes, late payments are a symptom of a deeper issue. Regular check-ins with key customers can offer insights into their payment capacity and open doors for early warnings or renegotiations. ➔ Use Trade Credit Insurance This provides a safety net where customer default risk is significant. It may not solve liquidity challenges directly, but it protects the downside. ➔ Diversify Customer Base Overreliance on a few customers with recurring cash issues is a major liquidity risk. Ensure your receivables portfolio is balanced. ➔ Set Up Predictive Monitoring Tools Integrate AI-based or analytics tools that flag customers exhibiting signs of stress like increased days sales outstanding (DSO), irregular order patterns, or extended communication gaps. How have you handled situations where your customers' own liquidity problems put your cashflow at risk? What worked? What didn’t? ♻️ Repost & Share.

U.S. dental support organizations (DSOs) are turning to modern revenue cycle management (RCM) technology to tackle costly insurance claim denials and streamline operations. Cloud-based RCM platforms can unify insurance, billing, and patient data across all practices, providing centralized dashboards and real-time analytics. By eliminating redundant systems and automating workflows end-to-end, DSOs gain clearer financial visibility and tighter control over claims. For example, one DSO reports that real-time eligibility verification built into scheduling reduces claim denials and administrative back and forth by catching coverage issues before treatment. These integrated systems ensure patient and payer data flow seamlessly from intake through payment, closing gaps that cause revenue leakage. Automation and AI also play a key role in scrubbing claims for errors before submission. AI-enabled coding tools can interpret clinical notes and automatically assign the correct procedure codes, staying current with the latest coding rules. When errors are caught early, first-pass claim approval rates soar. In fact, industry reports show that intelligent claims engines improve first-pass claim approval rates by validating data and codes against payer rules. This translates into fewer rejections and resubmissions, so billing teams spend less time on appeals. Similarly, automated claims scrubbing has been shown to cut manual claim-cleanup time by over 90%, yielding faster reimbursements and improved cash flow for practices. By reducing human error in coding and documentation, AI tools both reduce the number of denied claims and give staff more time to focus on complex cases. Verifying insurance coverage up front is another critical lever for denial prevention. Modern RCM suites often include real-time eligibility checks that automatically pull patient benefits and deductibles at scheduling. This means patients and staff know expected coverage before work is done. For DSOs, this upfront check is proving powerful: one study found that automating eligibility verification led to an 11x increase in checks and about a 20% drop in denials due to eligibility errors. In practice, real-time verification prevents surprise denials and billing surprises. Patients see transparent estimates, and practices avoid wasted claims submissions. Together with AI-fueled claims validation, real-time eligibility ensures that only clean, complete claims go out the door. Automated RCM platforms with built-in eligibility checks and AI-assisted coding not only slash denial rates, but also signal that the organization is committed to efficiency and growth. In practice, leading DSOs see measurably faster reimbursements, reduced revenue cycle costs, and fewer surprises on the balance sheet. 🔔 Follow me (Sina S. Amiri) for more insights on transforming dental RCM through AI and automation. #Dental #RevenueCycleManagement #ArtificialIntelligence #Tech

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝗽𝘀𝗲: 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Policy lapses are one of the most significant challenges facing the insurance industry, affecting both customers and insurers. A lapse occurs when premiums are not paid within the stipulated timeframe, resulting in the termination of coverage and erosion of long-term financial security. Understanding why this happens is essential to designing effective solutions. The most common cause is 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀. During periods of economic uncertainty, policyholders often redirect limited resources towards immediate needs, considering insurance as a deferrable expense. Another factor is 𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀—many customers underestimate the importance of continued coverage or fail to grasp the long-term value of policies. Equally important are 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 and 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴. Need-assessment is a critical element of the Policyholder journey that remains missing. Policies that do not match an individual’s life stage, goals, or liquidity needs tend to lapse when expectations are not met. Inadequate communication and follow-up from insurers add to the retention woes. Insurers generally engage with the policyholders just before renewals, thus remaining in the dark about their situation. With consistent engagement after the sale, one could assess and address the issues faced by them. 𝗔𝗜-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 can provide triggers to identify customers who have a higher probability of lapsing. Timely guidance and product benefit awareness communication can significantly help in improving persistency. Ultimately, lapses are not just about affordability—they reflect a gap in financial planning, engagement, and trust. Strengthening customer education, providing flexible payment solutions, and aligning products with real needs can go a long way in reducing lapses and ensuring families remain financially protected. #insurancestrategy #customerengagement #policypersistency #customerretention #lifeinsuranceindustry