Whenever the subject of accounts receivable (AR) comes up, you can sense that facility managers are stifling their yawns. To facility managers who come from a clinical, rather than business, background, this seems like a dry, boring topic best left to the accountants.

But AR represents something vital to your practice: It is your very best source of cash. Improve your AR, and you improve cash flow. Improve cash flow, and you improve your facility's ability to pay its bills on time, avoid paying late fees or credit penalties, and even "get ahead" to a firmer financial footing. Solving AR problems can instantly solve some of your most nagging management problems.

We know because over a period of about nine months, our ASC went from a nightmarish AR situation (over 120 days) to a stellar one (32 days). Thanks to a focused effort by our dedicated team, this ASC gets paid on time by virtually every payor with whom we do business. We have cash on hand to pay our bills, which saves us the cost of credit, as well as providing peace of mind.

We won't say it was easy, but we will say it was worth it. You can improve your cash flow by following the seven steps that lifted our organization to a more positive cash situation.

1. Build your team.
We believe AR management is like a team sport