Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Annual revenue impact of rate change
$320,000
Current annual net revenue
$3,280,000
Net revenue at target rate
$3,600,000
Est. impact attributable to denials
$192,000
Est. impact attributable to patient balances
$128,000
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How to use this
- 1Enter annual gross charges ($).
- 2Enter current net collection rate (%).
- 3Enter target net collection rate (%).
- 4Read your annual revenue impact of rate change on the right — it updates as you type.
- 5Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Practices obsess over charge volume but often ignore the collections rate variable that determines how much of that billed revenue actually becomes cash. A one-point drop in net collection rate at a $4M annual charge volume practice is $40,000 in vanished revenue, with no change in patient volume, staffing, or clinical output — it's pure back-office leakage from denials, timely filing misses, patient balance write-offs, and coding errors. This calculator takes your current annual gross charges and net collection rate, projects annual net revenue, and shows the dollar impact of improving (or the practice continuing to erode) that collection rate by a specified number of percentage points. It also breaks out how much of a typical collections gap is attributable to claim denials versus patient-responsibility balances that go unpaid, using industry-typical splits, so you know where to focus improvement effort — front-desk eligibility verification and prior authorization for denials, or point-of-service collection and payment plans for patient balances. A practice sitting at 92% net collection rate has little room to improve; one at 78% has a six-figure opportunity sitting in its A/R aging report.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Annual gross charges: 4000000 $
- Current net collection rate: 82 %
- Target net collection rate: 90 %
Results
- Annual revenue impact of rate change: $320,000
- Current annual net revenue: $3,280,000
- Net revenue at target rate: $3,600,000
- Est. impact attributable to denials: $192,000
- Est. impact attributable to patient balances: $128,000
What each field means
Inputs
- Annual gross charges ($)
- The annual gross charges used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 4000000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Current net collection rate (%)
- The current net collection rate used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 82 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–100 %.
- Target net collection rate (%)
- The target net collection rate used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 90 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 0–100 %.
Results
- Annual revenue impact of rate change
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Current annual net revenue
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Net revenue at target rate
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Est. impact attributable to denials
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Est. impact attributable to patient balances
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
What's a healthy net collection rate benchmark?
MGMA benchmark data puts well-run practices at 95-98% net collection rate against allowed amounts (after contractual adjustments). If you're measuring against gross charges instead of allowed amounts, 90%+ is a reasonable target; anything under 85% signals real process problems worth a billing audit.
Where do most collections gaps actually come from?
The two biggest buckets are timely-filing and initial-denial write-offs (often from eligibility or authorization errors caught too late) and uncollected patient-responsibility balances, especially with rising high-deductible plan enrollment. A smaller but growing share comes from coding errors and undercoding that reduce allowed amounts before collection even starts.
How fast can a practice realistically improve collection rate?
A focused effort — real-time eligibility verification, denial management workflow, and point-of-service collections — can move net collection rate 3-6 percentage points within 6-9 months. Bigger jumps usually require a billing system change or outsourcing to a specialized RCM vendor.
Is it worth outsourcing billing to fix a low collection rate?
If in-house billing consistently underperforms MGMA benchmarks by more than 5 points, outsourced RCM (typically 4-8% of collections) often pays for itself through improved rate alone, especially for smaller practices that can't afford dedicated denial-management staff.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
Related tools
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Patient Collections Rate Impact Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/patient-collections-rate-impact
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/patient-collections-rate-impact" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patient Collections Rate Impact Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Patient Collections Rate Impact Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/patient-collections-rate-impact) (2026).