9 Revenue Cycle Benchmarks to Track in 2026

The average medical practice's claim denial rate reached 9.0% in 2026, up from 7.5% in 2023, according to AMS Solutions' 2026 State of Medical Billing benchmark report. Days in accounts receivable moved the same direction, from 38 to 42 industry-wide, even as the published target for a healthy revenue cycle stays at under 5% denials and under 30 days in AR, per Becker's ASC.

Nine numbers make up that target list. A practice can compare its own report against them, and against where the industry actually landed in 2026, to find where revenue sits unclaimed rather than collected.

The nine benchmark numbers

Becker's ASC published a set of nine revenue cycle benchmarks that apply to any billing operation, not only ambulatory surgery centers. The list covers a claim's path from submission through final payment. Each threshold marks the line between a functioning collections process and one that leaks cash every month.

Source: Becker's ASC, "9 revenue cycle benchmarks for ASCs."

Eight of the nine numbers sit inside a narrow band. A well-run practice touches nearly every claim within 48 hours, collects on nearly all of it within a month, and writes off less than a twentieth of billed charges to denials. The ninth number, net collections above 97%, rolls the other eight into one figure finance leaders can track each month.

Why the two lag-time numbers carry so much weight

Two of the nine benchmarks set a 48-hour clock: claim/charge lag, the time between a visit and a submitted claim, and statement lag, the time between a payer's response and a patient statement. Both sit at 48 hours in the Becker's ASC target list, a fraction of the 30-day AR ceiling and a much smaller fraction of the 42-day AR average AMS Solutions reported for 2026.

A claim that misses the 48-hour submission window does not disappear. It moves into a slower queue, and every day added at the front of the cycle shows up later as extra days in AR or as a denial tied to a timely-filing limit. The two lag benchmarks exist because they are the earliest point where a practice can catch a delay before it becomes one of the bigger numbers below.

Where the industry actually landed in 2026

AMS Solutions surveyed billing operations for its 2026 benchmark report, published July 31, 2026, and found the industry outside the target band on two of the largest numbers. The 9.0% average denial rate runs almost double the under-5% target. The 42-day average in AR sits 12 days past the 30-day ceiling.

The report ties both increases to higher Medicare Advantage penetration and to commercial payers that now run automated, machine-learning claim reviews before a claim reaches a human adjuster. Stricter documentation requirements add to the delay: a claim that once cleared in under 30 days now waits on a records request or a modifier correction.

Specialty averages hide a wider gap

The industry-wide numbers understate the gap in specific specialties. AMS Solutions found neurology carrying the highest denial rate among major specialties, at 14%, tied mostly to professional-technical split errors on EMG and EEG claims. Home health reached a 13% denial rate and 52 days in AR, more than 20 days past target. Physical therapy reached an 11% denial rate and 45 days in AR.

Those errors carry a dollar figure. AMS Solutions puts the cost of neurology's professional-technical split errors at $30,000 to $80,000 a year for a mid-sized practice. Home health's PDGM reimbursement variances run $200 to $800 per 30-day payment period, across every episode of care a practice bills.

A revenue line most practices under-collect: chronic care management

One number in the AMS Solutions report has nothing to do with denials. Chronic care management enrollment sits under 15% nationally in family practice, well below what most patient panels support. Practices that reach 40% or higher enrollment report $385,000 or more in annualized incremental revenue, at $30 to $50 per enrolled patient per month, per the report.

That gap sits inside the same billing operation already tracking denials and AR days. It needs no new payer contract and no new service line, only enrollment and monthly documentation for patients already on the schedule.

Reading the numbers together

A practice at 9% denials and 42 days in AR matches the 2026 industry average. A drop from 9% denials to the 5% target, or from 42 days in AR to 30, changes monthly cash flow more than most new-patient marketing spend. The nine Becker's ASC numbers set the scorecard. The AMS Solutions averages show where most practices currently stand against it.

The two data sets point to the same starting place for a monthly review: pull denial rate, days in AR, and clean claim rate first, since those three carry the widest gap between target and actual in 2026. Claim/charge lag and statement lag come next, since a slip in either one feeds the bigger numbers a month later. Net collections rate closes the review, since it already reflects the other eight.

None of the nine numbers require new software or a new vendor to track. They require a report a billing team or a clearinghouse can already produce, read on the same schedule every month, against the same nine targets.

Sources

• Becker's ASC, "9 revenue cycle benchmarks for ASCs"
• HIT Consultant, "AMS Solutions Releases 2026 Benchmark Report on The State of Medical Billing," July 31, 2026