Cost to collect is the total expense of revenue cycle operations divided by total collections, expressed as a percentage or dollar amount per dollar collected.

This metric captures the efficiency of your revenue cycle. A cost to collect of 4% means you're spending four cents to collect every dollar. Industry benchmarks for well-run operations range from 3-5%; above 7% indicates significant optimization opportunities.

Telehealth revenue cycle costs can be higher than traditional practices due to more complex claim requirements, higher patient responsibility portions requiring more collection effort, and lower average reimbursement per visit. However, telehealth also offers automation opportunities—AI-powered coding assistance, automated eligibility verification, digital patient payment collection—that can drive costs below in-person benchmarks when implemented well.

Reduce cost to collect by improving clean claim rate (less rework), collecting patient payments at time of service (less billing effort), and automating repetitive revenue cycle tasks.

Related terms: Net collection rate, Patient payment collection rate, Clean claim rate