Payers in many states have legal deadlines: how fast they must pay a claim, decide an authorization, or finish credentialing. Practices don't have an equivalent. Most published best practices are about how payers and providers exchange transactions, not how a small practice should run its front desk and billing.
So we wrote our own. The SNG Practice Standards are 24 measurable targets for what a therapy, behavioral health, or speech therapy practice controls, from the first phone call to the last payment, each with a number to check every month. They're the standards we hold ourselves to when we run billing for a client. Below is the core standard for each of the six stages, and the benchmarks that show whether a practice is on track.
One core standard for each stage
| Stage | Core standard | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Before the visit | Verify eligibility and behavioral health benefits for every new patient before the first visit | 100%, at least 2 business days ahead |
| The session | Sign and lock the session note | 95% within 48 hours |
| Claims | Submit claims within 3 business days of the date of service | 95% or more |
| Payments | Post payments within 2 business days of receiving the ERA | 100% |
| Denials | Work every denial within 7 calendar days of the remittance | 100% |
| Credentialing | Re-attest CAQH every 120 days and keep license, malpractice, and W-9 current | 100% |
Why these matter: eligibility is the most common cause of avoidable denials; fast claims leave time to fix rejections before filing limits run out (MassHealth's is 90 days); and in several states the date a credentialing application was complete decides when retroactive payment starts. See the billing rules by state for the deadlines payers have to meet.
The benchmarks
| Benchmark | How to calculate it | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Clean claim rate | Claims accepted on first submission ÷ claims submitted | 95% or more |
| Denial rate | Claims denied ÷ claims processed | 5% or less |
| Days in AR | Total AR ÷ (collections in the last 90 days ÷ 90) | 30 or fewer |
All three come from your EHR or clearinghouse reports. If one is off, the cause is usually earlier in the cycle than where the number shows up: a high denial rate tends to start at the front desk.
How does your practice compare?
The full set of 24 standards, with the monthly KPIs and checklists behind them, is how we run billing and credentialing for our clients. When a practice misses several, the gaps tend to be the same: eligibility checked after the visit, claims batched weekly, rejections nobody reads, and credentialing dates nobody saved. Sharp Networks Group runs billing and credentialing to these standards, inside the EHR you already use. Schedule a consultation and we'll show you where your practice stands.
You're welcome to cite or link to these benchmarks. Last reviewed October 2026.