Debt Recovery

Dentrix Features That Actually Improve Collections

If your practice runs on Dentrix or Dentrix Ascend and your A/R is still stuck around 45–60 days, you’re not alone. Dentrix is a strong dental platform – but it only improves collections when your team uses the right features and has a clear escalation path beyond the software.

Dentrix is powerful – but it’s not your collections department

Dentrix has been around for over 30 years and is used by tens of thousands of dental practices. It connects scheduling, charts, imaging, billing, and analytics into one ecosystem.

That scale is impressive, but it doesn’t guarantee:

Low A/R days
Consistently high collection ratios
Minimal write-offs on old patient balances

Dentrix gives you tools. How you use them – and what you do when accounts age out – is what really determines your cash flow.

The Dentrix features that matter most for getting paid

Instead of thinking about every menu, focus on the features that directly affect A/R and collections.

1. Insurance eligibility and estimates
Accurate eligibility checks and chairside estimates reduce surprises. When patients know their likely out-of-pocket cost, you collect more up front and see fewer “I’ll pay later” promises.

2. Electronic claims and attachments
Cleaner claims and faster submissions mean fewer denials and less money sitting in insurance A/R. Use Dentrix to send claims daily, not in sporadic batches.

3. Patient billing, statements, and online payments
Automated statements, email/text reminders, and easy payment links are where Dentrix earns its keep. If you’re still relying on one paper statement a month, you’re under-using the platform.

4. A/R and aging reports
Dentrix can show you exactly where money is stuck – by aging bucket, provider, and insurance vs patient. These reports should drive decisions, not just be printed and filed.

5. Analytics and KPIs
Dashboards and reports help you track trends: A/R days, collection ratio, and percentage of receivables in 90+ days. If nobody is reviewing these numbers monthly, you’re flying blind.

What your Dentrix A/R should look like

You don’t need perfect numbers; you need clear targets.

Use your Dentrix reports to monitor:

Days in A/R
- Solid practices aim for about 30–45 days.
- If you’re routinely above 45–50 days, it’s a warning sign.
A/R aging distribution
- 0–30 days should hold the majority of your receivables.
- When more than 20–25% of your A/R is in 90+ days, you’re heading into bad-debt territory.
Collections vs production
- Many healthy practices collect around 98% of net production over time.
- If you’re consistently well below that, Dentrix is showing you a problem that needs action.

A simple test:

Open your Dentrix A/R report. If you wouldn’t be comfortable showing those numbers to a banker or buyer, your collections process needs tightening – even if Dentrix is fully installed.

Using Dentrix to decide what goes to a collection agency

Dentrix gives you the data to build simple, written rules for escalation.

For example:

By aging:

0–30 days: normal statements and soft reminders
31–60 days: extra reminder (email/text) + one phone call
61–90 days: firm reminder, offer payment plan, final internal notice
90+ days: if no arrangement, eligible for third-party collections

By balance size:

Small balances (e.g., under $50–$100):
- Limited internal follow-up, then either write-off or batch placement depending on your policy
Medium balances (e.g., $100–$500):
- Full internal sequence, then send to collections at 90+ days
Large balances (e.g., $500+):
- Extra attention at 30–60 days; do not let them quietly age out

By patient type:

Chronic late-payers: faster escalation
VIP or long-term families: more conversation before placement, but still a clear limit

The important part: make these rules explicit, use Dentrix to identify accounts that fit them, and follow the process every month.

Dentrix is your engine. A collection agency is the safety net.

Dentrix (and Dentrix Ascend) can help you prevent and reduce A/R:

Fewer claim errors
Better estimates
Stronger patient communication
Clear, timely reporting

But Dentrix will not:

Call seriously delinquent patients over and over
Negotiate with someone juggling multiple debts
Track down moved patients
File lawsuits or handle legal escalation

Once a balance is 90–120+ days old and unresponsive, you’re outside the normal office workflow. That’s where a dental-savvy collection agency comes in – working from Dentrix exports, using compliant scripts, and focusing on realistic payment solutions.

Are you already using Dentrix? Have unpaid medical bills?
Need to transfer your unpaid medical bills to a debt collection agency? Contact us

You decide what should be the minimum outstanding balance eligible for collections.
Only send accounts if a payment hasn’t been made in _(60/120/180) days.
Send 5 collection demands to your patient or transfer directly for debt collection calls.
You are in total control of the process. Dedicated medical & dental debt collectors.
Contact us for a demo of our free Dentrix debt collection utility.

FAQs: Dentrix and dental collections

Does Dentrix include a built-in collection agency?
No. Dentrix provides billing and A/R tools, but it is not a contingency collection agency. It won’t chase old debts or pursue legal remedies on your behalf.

What’s a good A/R benchmark for a Dentrix office?
Many practices aim for 30–45 days in A/R, with less than 20–25% of receivables in the 90+ day bucket and a collection ratio near 98% of net production.

How do I use Dentrix with a collection agency?
Typically, your team exports aging reports and account details from Dentrix and securely transmits them to a collection agency. The agency works the accounts, then reports back recoveries that your staff posts in Dentrix.

How Nexa fits into your Dentrix collections strategy

If your Dentrix reports look busy but your bank balance doesn’t, it’s time to add the right safety net around your software.

Nexa is an information portal that helps dental practices find suitable collection agencies.

We are not a collection agency and we do not do any credit reporting.
Instead, we learn about your practice, your Dentrix setup, and your A/R pressures.
We share your collection requirements with carefully shortlisted agencies we believe can handle dental A/R in a compliant, patient-sensitive way.
It is entirely your decision whether or not to use their services.

If your Dentrix A/R shows rising days and a stubborn stack of 90+ day balances, share a few details about your situation. You keep focusing on clinical care and patient experience – and let strong Dentrix usage plus the right collection partner help you turn more production into collected cash.

Large Business Debt Recovery: Mastering the B2B and B2C Divide

Nexa acts as a surgical extension of your A/R department. We understand that while a B2B client requires a “white-glove mediation” to save a million-dollar contract, a B2C portfolio requires an automated, high-velocity system that resolves thousands of small balances without triggering a single regulatory red flag.

Nexa provides 100% reputation-safe, equipped with all 50-state collections license, offering free credit reporting, free litigation, free bankruptcy scrubs, and zero onboarding fees. Secure – SOC 2 Type II & HIPAA compliant. Over 2,000 online reviews rate us 4.85 out of 5.

Need a Collection Agency? Contact us

The Enterprise Reality: Numbers That Matter

Metric	B2B (Commercial)	B2C (Consumer)
Average Invoice Value	$6,420	$132
Typical Overdue Rate	10.5% (Global average)	15% – 22% (Depending on sector)
DSO Impact	High (Individual late payments hit cash flow)	High (Volume-based drag on capital)
Recovery Lift with AI	15% – 25% Improvement	Up to 40% Reduction in OPEX
Regulatory Focus	Contract Law & UCC	FDCPA, HIPAA, TCPA

The Nexa Dual-Track Ladder

1. B2B Strategy: Professional Mediation

Commercial debt is rarely about “no money.” It’s usually about a missing PO, a “punch list” dispute, or a slow-moving AP department.

The Step 1 Approach: We use Fixed-Fee ($15) white-label notices that act as a neutral third-party “reconciliation request.” This preserves the relationship while signaling that the grace period is over.
The Mediation Phase: For aged B2B debt, our mediators act as resolution specialists. We find the person with the “check-cutting authority” and solve the underlying paperwork issue.

2. B2C Strategy: High-Velocity Automation

When dealing with thousands of individual consumers, every manual “touch” by your staff costs you profit.

Digital-First Recovery: We use AI-driven omnichannel triggers (SMS, Email, and IVR) to resolve small balances before they hit the 90-day mark.
Compliance by Design: Our systems are hard-coded with the latest 2026 consumer protection rules, ensuring that your corporate brand is never associated with “strong-arm” tactics or legal non-compliance.

Enterprise Brand Protection: The “Zero-Complaint” Goal

For a big business, the PR damage from a single mishandled collection can exceed the value of the entire portfolio.

The Reputation Shield: We maintain a 4.85 Google rating because we treat people as your customers, not just debtors.
Legal Liability Transfer: By moving your recovery to Nexa, you transfer the immense regulatory risk of consumer contact to our fully licensed and insured team.

Recent Enterprise Results

National Logistics (B2B Focus): A global carrier had $1.4M in commercial “micro-balances” (under $500) deemed too expensive to chase. Nexa’s Step 1 service recovered $640,000 in 90 days for a total cost of $12,000.
Utility/Telecom (B2C Focus): A national service provider reduced their 90-day delinquency bucket by 32% in one quarter using our automated digital triggers, saving an estimated $400k in staff labor costs.

Enterprise FAQ

1. How do you handle B2B accounts that have an ongoing contract?

We use “Amicable Mediation.” We frame the outreach as an “Account Reconciliation” to ensure their service isn’t interrupted. This maintains the revenue stream while securing the past-due funds.

2. Is B2C recovery HIPAA and FDCPA compliant across all states?

Yes. We are 50-state licensed. Our system automatically adjusts outreach based on local state laws (e.g., California’s Rosenthal Act vs. New York’s strict frequency rules).

3. Can Nexa integrate with our ERP (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite)?

Absolutely. We utilize secure API and SFTP integrations to pull delinquency files and push payment updates directly back into your ledger, creating a “Zero-Touch” environment for your finance team. If an integration is not available, then you can upload accounts in batch in an excel file, and upload in our system.

Stop Risking Your Brand. Start Recovering Your Revenue.

Let us show you a more intelligent, effective, and professional approach to your accounts receivable.

Schedule Your Enterprise Consultation Today

Collection Agency for SNF and LTC Facilities

Trusted by some of the largest LTC providers in the country, covering over 200 senior care locations. We balance aggressive financial recovery with the compassionate care your reputation demands. HIPAA compliant.

Why Senior Care Centers Choose Nexa:

DSO Reduction: Our clients typically see a 10-15 day reduction in Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) within the first 90 days of partnership.
Applied Income Experts: We specialize in recovering “Patient Liability” funds that families often misappropriate while waiting for Medicaid approval.
Zero-Risk Model: We operate primarily on a contingency basis—if we don’t collect, you don’t pay.

Managing the revenue cycle in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) or Long-Term Care (LTC) setting is uniquely complex. Unlike standard medical debt, you are dealing with Private Pay balances, Patient Liability (PL) amounts, and the sensitive nature of Estate claims. Nexa Collections understands this regulatory minefield. We recover the funds you are owed without violating resident dignity or federal statutes.

When Prevention Fails: Our Recovery Solutions

While internal financial counseling is vital, bad debt is inevitable. When families “ghost” you or assets are tied up in probate, we step in.

1. Private Pay & Patient Liability Recovery

The most common loss for SNFs is the “Patient Liability” (PL) or “Applied Income” portion that Medicaid does not cover. Families often treat this as their own money. We specialize in educating responsible parties on their legal obligation to remit these funds to the facility, recovering monthly co-pays that internal teams write off.

2. Probate & Estate Collections

When a resident passes away, collecting the final balance is uncomfortable for your staff but essential for your books. We handle the delicate process of filing claims against the estate, ensuring your facility is paid before assets are distributed to heirs. We do this with compassion and strict legal compliance.

3. Fixed Fee vs. Contingency Options

Fixed-Fee (Pre-Collect): Perfect for recent small balances (e.g., unpaid incidental fees or bed-hold charges). You pay a low flat fee per account, and you keep 100% of the recovery.
Contingency (Standard): For aged debt or estate claims. We advance all costs for skip-tracing and legal review. No Recovery, No Fee.

Need a Collection Agency? Contact Us

Serving Nursing Homes Nationwide

The “Medicaid Pending” Trap

“Medicaid Pending” is a dangerous status. If a resident is denied Medicaid after 6 months of care, you are left with a massive private pay balance that the family often cannot pay. Nexa Collections helps you identify these risks early. We can assist in recovering funds where families have failed to provide necessary documentation to the state, effectively coaching them into compliance to get your retro-pay released.

The “$50,000 Failure”: Why Admissions Matter

In our experience, a $50,000 bad debt account usually starts as a $500 mistake at admission. The majority of uncollectible debt in nursing homes stems from incomplete financial intake.

Our Consulting Insight:

To maximize recoverability, your Admissions team must gather:

Copies of all Insurance/Medicare cards (front and back).
Social Security and Bank Statements (crucial for Medicaid applications).
Signed Responsible Party Guarantees: Ensure the contract explicitly holds the signer liable for handling the resident’s assets/income, not just the resident themselves.

Legal Compliance: The 1987 Reform Act

We adhere strictly to the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 and the FDCPA. We understand that you cannot simply “evict” a resident for non-payment without following complex discharge procedures. Our collection efforts focus on the financial guarantors and assets, ensuring your facility stays compliant with state survey requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can we sue a resident’s children for the debt?

A: Generally, no—unless they voluntarily signed as a “Guarantor” or “Responsible Party” and mishandled the resident’s assets (e.g., taking Mom’s Social Security check). We review your admission contracts to determine exactly who is legally liable.

Q: How do you handle reputation management?

A: We know that a single negative review from an angry family member can hurt your census. Our collectors are trained in “Elder Care Sensitivity.” We act as firm problem solvers, not aggressors.

Q: Do you serve multi-state chains?

A: Yes. We currently serve over 200 locations nationwide, providing centralized reporting for corporate offices while handling local collections for individual facilities.

Protect Your Census & Your Cash Flow

Don’t let uncollected Private Pay balances limit your ability to provide quality care. Partner with the agency that understands the Senior Care industry.

Get a Nursing Home Collection Quote

Swimming Pool Debt Recovery: Why “Do-It-Yourself” Collections Sink Profits

In the swimming pool industry, you sell two things: your labor and your chemicals. When a client doesn’t pay, you aren’t just losing profit; you are physically paying out of pocket to keep their water blue.

Many pool business owners fall into the trap of trying to be their own debt collectors. They send awkward texts, leave polite voicemails, and hope for the best.

Here is the hard truth: If you are scrubbing tiles, you shouldn’t be scrubbing your aging report. Here is why handing accounts over to a professional agency is the smartest move for your bottom line.

Serving Pool Companies Nationwide

Need a Collection Agency? Contact Us

The “Neighborhood Reputation” Trap

Pool service is a hyper-local business. You rely on referrals from neighbors.

The Problem: Aggressively chasing a client for $300 can lead to them bad-mouthing you on Nextdoor or local Facebook groups.
The Agency Solution: A third-party agency acts as a professional buffer. They play the “bad cop,” allowing you to remain the “good cop” who just wants to provide great service. You can truthfully say, “I’m sorry, our accounting system automatically forwards accounts at 90 days, it’s out of my hands.” This preserves your reputation while still applying pressure.

Service Routes vs. Construction: Where Agencies Shine

1. The Maintenance Route (Unsecured Debt)

For weekly cleaning, chemical stops, and minor repairs ($200 – $1,000), you generally cannot file a Mechanic’s Lien. The legal costs to sue in small claims court often exceed the debt itself.

Why DIY fails: A homeowner knows you won’t sue them for $250. They prioritize their mortgage and car payment over you.
Why Agencies win: A collection agency can report the debt to the Credit Bureaus. Suddenly, that “ignorable” $250 bill threatens their credit score. This is often the only leverage that works for service debts.

2. The “Missed Window” Construction Debt

For builders and plasterers, the Mechanic’s Lien is powerful, but the window to file is tight (often 60-90 days).

The Reality: Many builders wait too long because the client keeps promising “the check is in the mail.” Once that lien deadline passes, you have zero leverage.
The Fix: When the lien window closes, a collection agency is your safety net. They have the tools to trace assets and demand payment even after your lien rights are gone.

The Hidden Power: Skip Tracing

A common scenario in the pool industry: The “Sold Home” Vanishing Act. A client runs up a bill getting the pool ready to sell, sells the house, and moves out of state without paying you.

You: Send invoices to an empty house.
The Agency: Uses “Skip Tracing” technology to locate the debtor’s new address, new phone number, and sometimes even their new place of employment. They find the people who are trying to hide.

The 90-Day “Hand-Off” Rule

When should you stop asking and start assigning? The industry standard is 90 days.

Days 1-60: This is your job. Send the invoice, send the reminder, pause service.
Day 90: If they haven’t paid after three months, they aren’t “forgetting.” They are ignoring.
The Cost of Waiting: Research shows that once a debt is 6 months old, the chance of collecting it drops to 50%. Hand it off while the debt is still “fresh” to maximize your recovery rate.

Focus on Blue Water, Not Red Tape

Your expertise is hydraulics, chemistry, and construction. A collection agency’s expertise is the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act).

If you call a debtor at the wrong time or threaten the wrong thing, you can be sued.
Agencies are licensed to apply maximum legal pressure without crossing the line.

Stop funding your clients’ swimming pools. Get a Collection Agency Specialized in the Pool Industry.

Contact Us

Urgent Care Clinics Collection Agency: Unpaid Patient Bills

Stop the Bleed Without Killing the Patient Experience

For many urgent care operators, “Days in AR” has become a secondary metric to the “Zero-Touch Rate”—the percentage of claims paid without human intervention. Currently, the industry average for zero-touch claims is only about 40%. Every extra “touch” from your staff adds labor costs and delays cash flow.

When a patient with a $2,000+ deductible leaves your clinic with an unsettled balance, they aren’t just a patient anymore; they are your largest payer segment.

Nexa bridges the gap between providing compassionate “neighborhood” care and maintaining a professional revenue cycle. We don’t just chase checks; we resolve the friction that stops them from being written.

Need a Collection Agency? Contact us

The Urgent Care Reality

56%: The average Time-of-Service (TOS) copay collection rate—down from 90% pre-pandemic.
11%: The average increase in operating costs for medical groups over the last 12 months, tightening the tolerance for slow-moving patient AR.
32%: The percentage of patients now enrolled in plans with deductibles exceeding $2,000, shifting the primary financial burden from the insurer to the individual.
40%: The “Zero-Touch” industry benchmark. If your staff is touching more than 60% of your claims, your cost-to-collect is likely eating your profit margin.

The Nexa “Reputation Shield” Methodology

We understand that an urgent care clinic lives or dies by its local reputation.

A single aggressive collection call can trigger a viral 1-star review. Our 4-step approach is hard-coded for Amicable Mediation:

Early-Out Fixed Fee (Step 1): We trigger professional, soft-touch demands under your brand or ours. This reminds patients of their responsibility while the “thank you for choosing us” sentiment is still fresh.
Full Mediation (Steps 2-4): For older debt, our contingency team uses professional negotiation. We identify why the bill isn’t paid—often an insurance glitch—and solve the root problem to get the check cut.
Strict Compliance: We are 100% compliant with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), HIPAA, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). We assume the regulatory risk so you don’t have to.

Legal Landscape: What Urgent Care Owners Must Know

The “Credit Score Threat” is largely dead. As of 2025, major credit bureaus have voluntarily removed most medical debts under $500 from reports, and many states are moving toward total bans on medical debt credit reporting.

The No Surprises Act: We ensure all collection efforts respect federal “Surprise Billing” protections, especially for out-of-network emergency services.
State-Specific Thresholds: From Virginia’s Medical Debt Protection Act to California’s strict reporting laws, we navigate the patchwork of local rules that often trip up internal billing departments.

Recent Recovery Wins

Medical (Multi-Site Urgent Care): A regional group with $420,000 in “micro-balances” (averaging $180) saw a 52% recovery rate within 90 days using our Step 1 Fixed-Fee system, restoring over $218,000 in cash flow.
Business (Occ-Health Services): A clinic was owed $45,000 by a local manufacturer for drug screenings and physicals. Nexa’s B2B mediators cleared the “corporate red tape” and secured the full $45,000 payment in 22 days.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Will using an agency drive patients to my competitors?

Actually, the opposite is often true. Patients often avoid returning to a clinic where they know they have an “awkward” unpaid balance. By resolving the debt professionally through a third party, you clear the path for the patient to return for their next urgent need.

2. Why focus on debt under $500 if it’s not reported to credit bureaus?

Because $500 is the new “sweet spot” for revenue leakage. While it doesn’t hit a credit report, it does hit your bottom line. We use mediation and easy-pay digital triggers to get these balances paid without needing the “threat” of a credit score drop.

3. Do you handle Occupational Medicine (B2B) accounts?

Yes. We have a dedicated division for Worker’s Comp and Employer-Paid services. These are often high-value and require a different negotiation style than consumer patient debt.

Recover Your Urgent Care Revenue Today

Ways to Improve Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management

The healthcare industry is unlike any other. In other businesses, you provide a product or service and the customer puts cash in your hand (more or less). However, the healthcare industry is very different. With multiple providers, claims to manage and reimbursements to deal with, getting money in the door in a timely manner can be difficult. Where healthcare businesses do not differ from other industries is that it is just important to manage revenue and cash flow as it is anywhere else. To help your healthcare business deal with this complicated receivables issues, here are a few ways to improve healthcare revenue cycle management.

Track and Analyze the Revenue Cycle

Maybe this is something you are already doing. If you are, there are always ways to get better at understanding your revenue cycle. If you are not, it is the number one way to improve revenue cycle management and you should start now. The simplest way to explain why this is so important is with an old business cliché that goes, “you can’t manage what you don’t measure”.

The first thing an organization must do is to set strategic goals and benchmarks. After you know what your ideal financial situation should and could be, you then need to take all the data, from patients and payers and start to see how you are doing in each category. The good news is, there is a lot of data in the healthcare industry to collect and learn from. There are also a host of software programs you can implement to easily help you pull together the data and draw conclusions from it.

Examine Denials and Claims Scrubs

One of the biggest challenges for healthcare providers is not getting paid, or only getting partially reimbursed from insurance companies. To improve your revenue cycle management, you need to understand why this is happening and take steps to improve your payment rates. To do this, you really need to stay on top of the claims that are not fully paid and either go back to the payer to get what they really owe you or do better with your own processes and procedures in the future.

The most common reasons for claim denials are:

patient ineligibility
incomplete patient or plan information
missing supplemental attachments
incomplete service information
duplicate claims
claims submitted to the wrong payer
coding error

What do you notice on this list? How about the fact that most of these are avoidable oversites on the provider’s end. When you start to see patterns emerge as to why you are getting claims denied, you can start implementing better practices with both your front-end and back-end staff.

Examine Your Contracts with Payers

The other common reason your healthcare organization is not seeing the reimbursements from claims it should is that the payer is not paying in line with what your contract states. This is a very common problem. Some of the discrepancies might only be a few dollars. It is probably not worth it to do a time-consuming contract review for every small item payment but the problem is, those small numbers add up over time and can cost your business a lot in the long run.

The best solution is to do a contract review for big-ticket reimbursements to make sure you get paid in full on large bills. If you find a certain company is not sticking to the contract with large items, it is worth reviewing smaller items as well on that specific contract. On all others, just make sure you are reviewing somewhat regularly (Annually? Biannually? Quarterly?) to make sure everything is being paid to spec.

Implement Stricter Front-End Process

Healthcare revenue cycle management is not just a function of the back-end of your organization. The front-end has very important responsibilities as well. The more you streamline and improve their processes, the less pressure you put on your back-end to carry the revenue cycle load.

Studies show that more than half of medical bills under $500 are not fully paid. This is particularly prevalent among younger adult patients. By optimizing your point-of-service payments, you can start the revenue cycle on a better foot. By putting in place a strict point-of-service or pre-service payment plan, you can ensure you get the revenue cycle started correctly.

One great way to help do this is to offer pre-service cost estimates so patients know that they are getting into. Data suggests that almost half of Millennial patients say they would be more likely to pay upfront if they received an estimate in advance. Another way is to offer card on file payments. While credit and debit cards are by far the most popular form of payment, many practices do not keep these cards on file for easy payment.

Debt 90 days past due? Hire Recovery Agents !

Hiring a debt collection agency is one of the best things you can do to minimize your losses due to ballooning accounts receivables. Unpaid bills can cause serious cash flow issues for the healthcare industry since they are unable to reduce their operating expenses as quickly as other industries. We can help you if you want to hire a good collection agency.

Conclusion

In addition to delivering the best patient care possible and striving to provide the best patient outcomes you can, healthcare businesses still need to keep a close eye on their bottom line. The healthcare revenue cycle is unlike any other and, as such, needs to be constantly monitored and tweaked to make sure it is running efficiently for your business. By collecting and analyzing data and improving processes in your organization’s back-end and front-end, you should be able to create a noticeable improvement in managing your revenue cycle. The most important reason to do this is that the less you and your business have to worry about revenue, the more you can focus on providing the best care possible.