How to Switch Medical Billing Companies Without Losing Revenue

Mukesh MakwanaFounder & CEO · Hands-on medical billing & RCM across 11 specialties · Reviewed October 11, 2026

To switch medical billing companies without losing money, do four things in order: read your current contract for the notice period and what must be handed back, get your own copies of every report and login before you give notice, decide in writing who works the claims already submitted, and watch payer filing deadlines through the handover. Most of the money lost in a switch is lost in the gap between two companies, on claims that neither one is working. The steps below close that gap.

Before you give notice

The order matters. Once notice is given, cooperation from the outgoing company can slow down, so collect what you need first.

Read the contract you signed

• Notice period: how many days, and whether notice must be in writing to a named address.
• Run-out terms: whether the company keeps working, and keeps charging for, claims it submitted before the end date.
• Fees at exit: any termination fee, and whether fees continue on payments that arrive after the end date.
• Data: what is handed over, in what format, and how quickly.

Get your own copies

• An accounts receivable aging report by payer and by date of service.
• A list of every open claim with its payer claim number, status and last action taken.
• Open denials and appeals, with deadlines.
• Unposted payments and patient credit balances.
• Fee schedules and payer contracts.

Check whose name things are in

Your practice management system, clearinghouse account, payer portal logins, and the enrollments for electronic claims, electronic remittance and electronic funds transfer should belong to the practice. If any of them belong to the billing company, plan the move before the end date, because a remittance sent to an account you no longer have access to is a payment you cannot post.

What HIPAA says about your data when the contract ends

A billing company is your business associate, and the contract between you has to meet 45 CFR 164.504(e). That regulation requires the contract to provide that the business associate will:

• At termination of the contract, if feasible, return or destroy all protected health information received from, or created or received on behalf of, the covered entity that the business associate still maintains in any form, and retain no copies.
• If return or destruction is not feasible, extend the protections of the contract to the information and limit further uses and disclosures.
• Make protected health information available so the practice can meet patients' access requests.

The same regulation requires the contract to authorize termination by the covered entity if the covered entity determines that the business associate has violated a material term. In practice: ask for the return of your data in writing, name the format, and get written confirmation of what was returned and what was destroyed. Our guide to choosing a medical billing company explains the business associate agreement in more detail.

Decide who works the old claims

Every switch has two sets of claims: those dated before the start date, and those dated after. The second set is simple. The first set is where money goes missing. There are two workable arrangements:

• Run-out: the outgoing company keeps working the claims it submitted for an agreed period, then hands over whatever is still open with notes.
• Full takeover: the new company takes every open claim from the start date, using the open claim list and aging report you collected.

Either can work. What does not work is leaving it unstated. Put the choice, the end date and the handover format in writing with both companies. If you choose a run-out, ask for a weekly list of what was worked, so the old receivables are not quietly dropped. Our AR recovery services cover inherited claims.

Watch the filing deadlines during the handover

Payers do not pause their clocks while you change vendors. For Medicare, 42 CFR 424.44 requires a claim to be filed no later than the close of the period ending 1 calendar year after the date of service. Commercial and Medicaid plans set their own limits in their contracts and manuals, and many are much shorter.

• Sort the open claim list by date of service and work the oldest first.
• Flag every claim that has never been submitted. Those are the ones at risk.
• Check appeal deadlines on open denials. They run from the denial date, not from the day you switched.

See what to do when insurance companies are not paying claims for state payment deadlines and escalation steps.

What should not change when you switch

• Your payer contracts and credentialing. They belong to the practice and its providers, not to the billing company.
• Your Tax ID and NPIs. Claims keep going out under the same identifiers.
• Your EHR and practice management system, if the new company works inside it. If your old company billed from its own software, ask for a full export of claims, payments and balances before access ends.
• Where the money goes. Insurance and patient payments should be deposited to the practice's own bank account before, during and after the switch.

The first month with the new company

• Confirm that electronic remittances and deposits are arriving for every major payer.
• Compare charges entered with claims submitted each week. The two should match.
• Compare the opening aging report with the one at the end of the month, by payer.
• Ask for the list of inherited claims worked, with the result of each.
• Check that patient statements went out and that credit balances were handled.

How Sterling Global Solution LLC handles a switch

We work inside your own system, so there is no data migration and no period where claims cannot be sent. We sign a HIPAA business associate agreement before we see patient data, build the open claim list with you, agree in writing who works the inherited claims, and start with the oldest dates of service. You can see our work on your own claims before you commit, through the 30-Day Free Trial. New billing clients also get free credentialing for 3 insurance payers. Start with our 30-Day Free Trial.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Code of Federal Regulations, 45 CFR 164.504(e): business associate contracts, including return or destruction of protected health information at termination.
Code of Federal Regulations, 42 CFR 424.44: time limits for filing Medicare claims.

The checklists are our own working practice, not legal advice. Your contract governs notice, fees and handover terms; have it reviewed if the terms are unclear. How we verify this guidance.

Related reading

• How to choose a medical billing company. The checklist and the questions to ask first.
• How much medical billing costs. Pricing models and the fees to ask about.
• AR recovery services. Working inherited and aged claims.
• In-house vs outsourced billing. When bringing billing in-house is the better answer.