How allowables and collection rates reveal what a practice really collects

Practice administrators watch the money that comes in, but the numbers that explain how much a practice will actually keep often go unexamined. The second episode of The Back Office, a monthly Physicians Practice video series, breaks down allowables, collection percentages and accounts receivable, and what those numbers reveal about how a practice is really performing.

Lucien W. Roberts III, MHA, FACMPE, the show’s host and a longtime practice administrator, is again joined by Bert Wilson, CMPA, who spent years on the payer side before transitioning to practice management. Using a single follow-up visit coded 99214 as their example, the two break down how allowables vary from one payer to the next, why net collection percentage is a truer gauge of performance than the gross figure, and how accounts receivable built on charges can mislead a practice about what it will actually collect.

The Back Office is a monthly video series and podcast from Physicians Practice, featuring host Lucien W. Roberts III, MHA, FACMPE, who sits down with industry experts to dig into the real challenges of running a physician practice. Each episode covers a different facet of practice management, from revenue cycle to staffing to payer contracting, with the kind of candid, experience-driven conversation you would expect from colleagues who have seen it all.

Roberts brings decades of hands-on practice management experience and a network of industry contacts that opens doors to guests with genuine, real-world expertise. His easy, conversational style puts guests at ease and keeps complex topics accessible without talking down to the administrators who live with these issues every day.

New episodes of The Back Office drop monthly on Physicians Practice.