One of the most common questions practice managers ask is how long they should expect to wait for payment after submitting a claim. The answer depends on several factors, but most practices can expect the medical billing turnaround time to fall somewhere between two weeks and three months. That is a wide range, and where your practice lands within it depends on how clean your claims are, which payers you work with, and how efficiently your billing process runs.

Let's look at what affects turnaround time and what you can do to speed things up.

The Typical Timeline

From the moment a patient receives care to the moment payment hits your account, several steps have to happen. Each step takes time, and delays at any point push back your payment date.

Charge Entry & Coding

After a patient visit, the clinical documentation needs to be coded and charges need to be entered into your billing system. In some practices, this happens the same day. In others, it takes a week or more. If providers fall behind on documentation, billing cannot move forward.

Practices that require same-day or next-day charge entry see faster turnaround times overall. Every day of delay at this stage is a day added to your payment timeline.

Claim Submission

Once charges are entered and coded, the claim can be submitted to the payer. Electronic submission is fast. Most claims reach payers within 24 to 48 hours. But if your practice batches claims weekly instead of submitting daily, you add unnecessary delays.

Claims submitted with errors get rejected immediately. These rejections require correction and resubmission, adding more time. Clean claims that pass initial edits move into the payer's processing queue without delay.

Payer Processing

This is where much of the waiting happens. Payers have their own timelines for processing claims, and these vary by payer and by plan type. Medicare typically processes claims within 14 to 30 days. Commercial payers may take 30 to 45 days or longer.

Some payers process faster than others. Some claims require additional review, which adds time. If the payer requests additional documentation, the clock essentially resets while you gather and submit what they need.

Payment Posting

After the payer processes the claim, they send payment along with an explanation of benefits. Your billing team posts the payment and reconciles it against the original charge. If everything matches, the claim is closed. If there are discrepancies, someone needs to investigate.

Electronic remittance advice and automatic posting speed up this step. Manual posting takes longer and introduces more opportunities for error.

Factors That Slow Things Down

Several common issues extend medical billing turnaround time beyond what practices expect. Knowing what causes delays helps you address them.

Claim Errors & Denials

Errors in patient information, coding mistakes, and missing documentation cause claims to be rejected or denied. A rejected claim never made it into the payer's system and needs to be corrected and resubmitted. A denied claim was processed but not paid, requiring an appeal or correction.

Either way, you are starting over. What should have been a 30-day turnaround becomes 60 or 90 days. High denial rates indicate problems in your billing process that need attention.

Authorization Issues

Services that require prior authorization cannot be paid if authorization was not obtained or was not obtained correctly. Payers deny these claims, and sorting out authorization issues takes time. Sometimes the service was authorized, but the authorization was not linked to the claim correctly.

Front-end verification should catch authorization requirements before services are rendered. Fixing authorization problems after the fact is much harder.

Payer Delays

Sometimes the delay is on the payer's end. Payers may sit on claims longer than expected, especially during busy periods. They may lose claims entirely, requiring you to resubmit. They may process claims incorrectly, paying less than they should.

Following up with payers on aging claims is part of effective billing. Practices that wait passively for payment often wait longer than necessary. Regular follow-up keeps claims moving.

What Good Looks Like

Practices with efficient billing processes see average turnaround times in the range of 25 to 40 days. They submit clean claims quickly, follow up on unpaid claims regularly, and resolve denials promptly.

AAA Medical Billing Services reports that practices they work with often see improvements in turnaround time after implementing better processes. Faster turnaround means healthier cash flow and less money sitting in accounts receivable.

Benchmarks to Track

Days in accounts receivable is the standard metric for measuring billing speed. This number tells you how long, on average, it takes to collect payment. Lower numbers are better. Most practices aim to keep this figure under 40 days.

If your days in A/R exceeds 50 or 60, something in your process needs work. High numbers indicate slow submission, high denial rates, or inadequate follow-up.

Speeding Up Your Turnaround Time

Improving medical billing turnaround time requires attention to each step in the process. Here are some areas to focus on.

Submit Claims Daily

Do not batch claims for weekly submission. Send them out as soon as coding is complete. Every day you wait is a day of delayed payment.

Verify Insurance Before Visits

Confirm coverage and patient information before the appointment. Catch errors early so they do not cause denials later.

Work Denials Immediately

When a claim is denied, address it within days, not weeks. The faster you respond, the faster you get paid.

Follow Up on Aging Claims

Do not wait for payers to pay. Establish a follow-up schedule for claims that remain unpaid past expected timeframes. Persistent follow-up gets results.

Consider Outsourcing

If your internal team cannot keep up, partnering with a billing company may help. Companies that specialize in medical billing often achieve faster turnaround times because they have dedicated staff and established processes.

Medical billing turnaround time affects your practice's financial health directly. The faster claims convert to cash, the more stable your operations become. Paying attention to what slows you down and taking steps to improve your process makes a real difference in how long you wait to get paid.