Is rcm.today a news site?

No. It used to describe itself that way and did not publish on that cadence. It is now a set of dated reference pages and a cost calculator. There is no newsletter. Occasional sourced articles appear under /news when they are written — that is an archive, not a daily desk.

AdvancedCare USA Inc., which sells revenue cycle software and services. That is why every formula and source is published — so you can check the arithmetic against our commercial interest. Details on /about.

What is cost to collect, and what should mine be?

Under HFMA framing, cost-to-collect is RCM expense divided by cash collections, with inclusions stated. There is no single correct percentage for every specialty and size. Use /benchmarks for definitions and /cost-to-collect for your own arithmetic on the patient-responsibility slice.

Is outsourcing billing cheaper than in-house?

It depends on volume, payer mix, and what your in-house cost actually includes — which most practices undercount (loaded labour, software, write-offs, management time). Work the calculator and the model-comparison table on /cost-to-collect before you trust a vendor percentage alone.

What should an outsourced billing company charge?

Public list prices are rare; rates are contracted. Marketed full-cycle outpatient RCM often lands in the mid-single-digit percent of net collections, but inclusions vary (patient balances, denial work, coding). Compare against a fully loaded in-house number, not base salary alone. We do not publish named competitors’ contract rates.

Do you cover state Medicaid changes?

No. Fifty state programmes change faster than we can track honestly. We do not claim to track Medicaid bulletins. Federal fee-schedule and prior-auth notes appear when we publish sourced articles under /news.

Will you look at my numbers?

Yes, if you ask — and we will tell you when the answer is that your billing is fine. Use the contact form; we sell RCM services and disclose that before we talk shop.

What is your revenue cycle actually costing you?

Most outpatient practices have never computed cost-to-collect with a named denominator. Here is the arithmetic — using published industry definitions, every constant sourced and dated — so you can check it before you talk to anyone selling a fix, including us.

Run your numbers See the benchmarks

Last reviewed against published HFMA, CMS, MGMA, Premier, and related primary sources linked on this page on July 18, 2026.

2.5–8%
Illustrative cost-to-collect bands used in the calculator for independent practices (method: RCM expense ÷ cash collections)
HFMA cost-to-collect better practices; model bands on /cost-to-collect
$33.40
CY2026 non-qualifying-APM Medicare PFS conversion factor (from $32.35; +3.26%)
CMS-1832-F fact sheet, 31 Oct 2025
+126%
Coding-related denials over three years (MDaudit data cited in HFMA roundtable)
HFMA / MDaudit, 2025 roundtable article
$57.23
Average cost to adjudicate a single claim (hospital survey sample)
Premier Inc. claims adjudication survey

What this site is, and what it is not

rcm.today is not a news site. It used to describe itself that way — "curated daily," a morning digest, Medicaid bulletins "tracked" alongside CMS updates. Those claims were false: there was no daily feed, no newsletter form, and no state-by-state Medicaid tracker. That framing is retired.

What this domain is now: a small set of dated reference pages and a free cost-to-collect calculator for practice owners and administrators who suspect billing is leaking money and need arithmetic before they take another vendor call.

What it is not:

A daily or weekly newsroom
An independent consumer magazine with no commercial interest
A directory of "billing companies near you"
A replacement for `rcm.tools` (utility tools for billers and coders live there)

Dated long-form notes still appear under News when we publish them — each one sourced, none of them a promise of cadence you cannot hold us to.

Who operates this — stated up front

AdvancedCare USA Inc. operates rcm.today. AdvancedCare sells EHR, revenue cycle services, ClinicPay.ai, and RCMBoost to outpatient practices — including the same buyer this site is written for.

That is not a footer apology. It is the reason every formula and source is published: so you can disagree with an assumption, re-run the math, and decide whether our commercial interest distorts the answer. A page that pretends to be a neutral newspaper while functioning as a sales funnel is worse than a page that says "we sell this work — here is checkable arithmetic anyway."

Cost-to-collect bands (preview — no gate)

HFMA's cost-to-collect better practices (opens in a new tab) define the KPI as RCM expense divided by cash collections, with inclusions stated explicitly. Public HFMA discussion of hospital-style cost-to-collect often centres near the low single digits of net collections; independent outpatient practices collecting more patient-responsibility balances typically run higher once statements, staff time, and card fees are counted.

The free calculator on this site estimates the patient-responsibility collection slice of that problem — statements, staff touches, and card fees — as cents per dollar collected and as a rate. It will not invent your payer mix. It will suppress a number rather than fabricate one.

| Rough placement | What it usually means | | --- | --- | | Better-performing territory | Low single-digit % of collections under a named method; measure before celebrating | | Median / common | Mid single-digit % when patient balances and multi-cycle statements are real | | Needs attention | High single digits — check what is in the numerator before changing vendors | | Investigate now | Double-digit % of collections — usually a definition problem, a volume problem, or both |

[Run your own numbers →](/cost-to-collect) — no email gate, results from defaults on first paint.

Questions this site answers

What is billing actually costing us?
Free calculator: statements, staff time, and fees as ¢ per patient dollar collected — then compare models in plain language.
What do the KPIs mean?
Days in A/R, cost-to-collect, first-pass, denial rate — formulas, denominators, and why vendors redefine them.
How should we evaluate RCM software?
Criteria and demo questions — not a scorecard where our own product wins.
Why are denials getting harder?
Sourced industry data, prevention vs appeal, and a link to appeal utilities on rcm.tools.
Who runs this and how does it make money?
Operator, funding model, sourcing policy, corrections.
Dated notes (when published)
Sourced articles on prior auth, denials, and fee-schedule changes — no daily promise.

Biller and coder tools live on rcm.tools

If you need a BCBS prefix lookup, appeal letter generator, NPI lookup, patient payment estimator, or similar utility, use [rcm.tools](https://rcm.tools) — a separate, live app. This site is for the practice owner / administrator deciding what billing costs and whether to change models. Routing the utility audience there keeps both products honest.

Common questions

Is rcm.today a news site?: No. It used to describe itself that way and did not publish on that cadence. It is now a set of dated reference pages and a cost calculator. There is no newsletter. Occasional sourced articles appear under /news when they are written — that is an archive, not a daily desk.
Who runs this?: AdvancedCare USA Inc., which sells revenue cycle software and services. That is why every formula and source is published — so you can check the arithmetic against our commercial interest. Details on /about.
What is cost to collect, and what should mine be?: Under HFMA framing, cost-to-collect is RCM expense divided by cash collections, with inclusions stated. There is no single correct percentage for every specialty and size. Use /benchmarks for definitions and /cost-to-collect for your own arithmetic on the patient-responsibility slice.
Is outsourcing billing cheaper than in-house?: It depends on volume, payer mix, and what your in-house cost actually includes — which most practices undercount (loaded labour, software, write-offs, management time). Work the calculator and the model-comparison table on /cost-to-collect before you trust a vendor percentage alone.
What should an outsourced billing company charge?: Public list prices are rare; rates are contracted. Marketed full-cycle outpatient RCM often lands in the mid-single-digit percent of net collections, but inclusions vary (patient balances, denial work, coding). Compare against a fully loaded in-house number, not base salary alone. We do not publish named competitors’ contract rates.
Do you cover state Medicaid changes?: No. Fifty state programmes change faster than we can track honestly. We do not claim to track Medicaid bulletins. Federal fee-schedule and prior-auth notes appear when we publish sourced articles under /news.
Do you have billing tools?: Not on this domain. rcm.tools has a BCBS prefix lookup, appeal letter generator, NPI lookup, and related utilities.
Will you look at my numbers?: Yes, if you ask — and we will tell you when the answer is that your billing is fine. Use the contact form; we sell RCM services and disclose that before we talk shop.

Disagree with an assumption?

Spotted something out of date, or want to argue with a constant in the calculator? Tell us. If you want us to look at your actual numbers, say so — we sell revenue cycle services, and we will tell you when the honest answer is that you do not need them.

Get in touch

Sources

Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule (CMS-1832-F) fact sheet (opens in a new tab) — Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
HFMA Guide to Better Practices in Measuring Cost-to-Collect (opens in a new tab) — HFMA
HFMA MAP Keys — industry-standard revenue cycle KPIs (opens in a new tab) — HFMA
Reshaping revenue cycle strategy (HFMA roundtable; MDaudit-sponsored) (opens in a new tab) — HFMA / MDaudit-cited data
Premier: claims adjudication costs providers $25.7 billion (opens in a new tab) — Premier Inc.
MGMA Stat: medical practice operating costs still rising in 2025 (opens in a new tab) — MGMA