"Turnaround Time (TAT)" - Term Explanation

What Is Turnaround Time (TAT) in Healthcare RCM?

Turnaround Time (TAT) is the total elapsed time required to complete a defined process from initiation to completion. In Revenue Cycle Management, TAT is measured across multiple distinct workflow segments, each with its own benchmark and operational significance:

• Prior authorization TAT: Time from auth request submission to payer approval or denial response
• Claim submission TAT: Time from date of service to date of claim submission to payer
• Denial resolution TAT: Time from denial receipt to corrected submission or formal appeal filing
• Payment posting TAT: Time from payment receipt (ERA/EOB) to posting in the practice management system
• Patient statement TAT: Time from patient balance determination to statement generation and delivery

Together, these TAT measurements determine total revenue cycle cycle time — the span between delivering care and collecting payment — which directly sets Days in Accounts Receivable.

Why TAT Management Is a Financial Priority

Every hour of unnecessary delay has a cost. Delayed prior auth processing pushes procedures further into the future. Slow claim submission extends the payment timeline by the same number of days as the delay. Denial resolution TAT running 30 days instead of 5 means denied revenue sits at risk for 25 extra days — increasing write-off probability and creating appeal timeline complexity.

TAT is also a compliance concern: most payers have timely filing limits (90–365 days from service, depending on payer) within which claims must be submitted. Poor submission TAT approaching these limits creates write-off risk on otherwise collectable revenue.

Industry TAT Benchmarks

• Claim submission: Same-day or next-day for services with complete documentation; never more than 3 business days from service to submission
• Prior auth response: Payers increasingly required to respond within 72 hours (urgent) or 7–14 days (standard) by state law
• Denial resolution: High-value denials within 5 business days; all denials within 15 days to maintain appeal viability
• Payment posting: ERA files posted same-day; paper EOBs within 24–48 hours of receipt

How Automation Compresses RCM TAT

TAT reduction is one of the most direct and measurable benefits of RCM automation. Automated workflows eliminate queuing time, handoff delays, and batch-processing cycles that inflate TAT in manual operations:

• Automated prior authorization workflows submit requests immediately upon scheduling confirmation
• Automated claim generation from EHR data enables same-day submission for encounters with clean documentation
• Denial management automation routes denied claims to the correct work queue within hours of denial receipt
• Automated payment posting from ERA feeds processes remittances the same day they arrive

Organizations automating their RCM workflows report TAT improvements of 60–80% across all segments. See the results in our case studies.