What is Days in AR?
Also called: days in accounts receivable · A/R days · DSO healthcare
Read it alongside the aging distribution, never alone. A practice can hold a respectable average while carrying a large, unworkable balance beyond 120 days, because a high volume of fast-paying small claims disguises the aged tail.
The percentage of AR over 90 days is the more honest metric. That is where collectability falls sharply and where timely filing deadlines start expiring.
Example
A practice with $420,000 in AR and $17,500 in average daily charges has 24 days in AR.
Where Vizora handles this
Primary sources
Where "Days in AR" is defined by the bodies that set the rules, rather than by us.
- MGMA DataDive and MGMA Stat (opens in a new tab)
Medical Group Management Association — The practice-level operations benchmarks — days in AR, denial rate, cost to collect — that physician groups are actually measured against.
- MAP Keys revenue cycle metrics (opens in a new tab)
Healthcare Financial Management Association — Standard definitions for revenue cycle KPIs. Worth reading precisely because HFMA defines the metrics without publishing public target values — a distinction most vendor marketing ignores.
Last reviewed August 20, 2026
Related terms
Revenue Cycle Management
Revenue cycle management is the end-to-end financial process a healthcare practice runs from the moment a patient schedules an appointment until the balance for that visit is fully paid. It covers eligibility verification, coding, claim submission, payer follow-up, denial appeals, patient billing and reporting.
Net Collection Rate
Net collection rate is payments received divided by the amount you were contractually entitled to collect, after removing contractual adjustments. It answers the question gross collection rate cannot: of the money you actually had a right to, how much did you get?
Timely Filing
Timely filing is the deadline by which a payer must receive a claim. Limits commonly range from 90 days to one year from the date of service, vary by payer and contract, and are shorter for secondary claims. A claim denied for timely filing is generally unappealable and unbillable to the patient.
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