In today’s complex home-based care landscape, providers face countless metrics, dashboards and KPIs aimed at tracking financial performance. From A/R >90 to denial rates, it can be overwhelming to decide which metrics truly matter. At Prochant, we track all your most critical KPIs, but with a particular focus on one metric that truly captures the health of your revenue cycle more than any other: net collection rate (NCR).
What Is Net Collection Rate?
Net collection rate measures the percentage of net allowable billing a provider actually collects, accounting for credit adjustments, refunds and balance transfers. In other words, for every $1.00 in net allowable billing, how much do you collect? It should be $0.95 or more. Unlike gross revenue or cash flow alone, NCR reflects the effectiveness of your entire revenue cycle – from accurate billing and claims submission to timely follow-ups and denials management.
Why NCR is the North-Star KPI
- Measure Real Revenue: NCR shows the revenue your organization actually collects from payers and patients after credit adjustments, refunds and balance transfers. It provides the most accurate reflection of your financial performance and the effectiveness of your revenue cycle.
- Identify and Fix Revenue Leakage: Monitoring NCR helps pinpoint where money is being lost – whether from denied claims, billing errors or delayed follow-ups. By identifying these gaps, providers can take targeted action to reduce lost revenue and improve overall collection efficiency.
- Guides Leadership Decisions: Tracking NCR trends over time by payer, product line and location gives your leadership actionable insights for budgeting, staffing and growth planning. Understanding your true collection performance allows you to make informed decisions that strengthen financial stability and drive sustainable organizational growth.
NCR vs. other metrics
- Gross Collection Rate: Inflated by gross charges; ignores contract allowables.
- A/R > 90: Lagging indicator; NCR shows effectiveness now.
- Denial Rate: Useful, but narrow. NCR reflects end-to-end performance.
How to Improve Your Net Collection Rate
Improving NCR requires focus across several critical areas:
- Accurate Billing & Coding: Ensure claims are submitted correctly the first time to prevent denials and delays.
- Proactive Denials Management: Quickly identify, track and appeal denied claims before they age. Feedback is continuously incorporated into improving front- and mid-office processes to avoid future denials.
- Effective Patient Engagement: Clear communication and timely follow-ups with patients can reduce outstanding balances.
- Payer Contract Compliance: Regularly review contracts to ensure reimbursements align with negotiated rates.
- Streamlined Workflows & Automation: Leverage technology to automate repetitive tasks and allocate work intelligently, freeing teams to focus on high-impact activities.
How Prochant Delivers on NCR
Our Prochant Process combines technology and expertise to optimize every stage of the revenue cycle. Using Prochant Pulse™, our AI-driven technology, providers gain real-time visibility into KPIs, drill downs into revenue-impacting metrics and intelligent allocation of tasks to optimize workflows and improve net collection rates. Coupled with our expert teams, this ensures claims are submitted accurately, denials are proactively managed and cash flow is maximized.
Providers partnering with Prochant consistently see measurable improvement in NCR, meaning more revenue stays in their organization to fund patient care, operations and growth initiatives.
Our Net Collection Guarantee
In a sea of metrics, NCR cuts through the noise. It reflects real financial performance, identifies areas for operational improvement and aligns your team around a tangible, high-impact goal.
At Prochant, we don’t just track NCR. We help you improve it – sustainably and consistently. For HME providers, we back this commitment with our contractual guarantee. For end-to-end providers that qualify, we guarantee a net collection rate of at least 95%. That means more predictable revenue, fewer headaches and the confidence to focus on patient care.
