Denial rates continue to climb, with 88% of billers surveyed by Tebra reporting that denial rates increased over the past 12 months. Because denials often don’t surface until weeks after submission, billing teams are left scrambling to rework aging claims as new ones continue to pile up. 

The result is mounting pressure on billing teams: 68% cite denial or rejection rework as a major profitability challenge, while two-thirds believe payers are using AI and automation to drive at least some denials. Simply put, the amount of rework no longer scales.

So how can billers take control of denials?

In this month’s webinar, Get paid faster with AI-driven denial prediction, Tebra’s Sarah Ford and Laura Araya Fernandez explored which traditional denial prevention strategies still matter – and how AI is now helping billing teams identify denial risk earlier so they can focus their efforts where they’ll have the greatest impact. 

Sarah emphasized that the fundamentals of denial prevention still matter. She reiterated tips from her earlier webinar, Getting paid: How to capture every dollar in 2026, and emphasized that billers should make sure they have these basics sorted out before exploring AI:

Together, these best practices create the foundation for cleaner claims, less rework, and more effective use of AI. As Sarah noted, reporting is especially important because visibility into denial patterns helps teams identify workflow breakdowns and training opportunities. Tebra’s new A/R Dashboard helps billers surface these trends at a glance. 

The best AI doesn’t automate decision-making. Rather, it gives billers the information and context to prioritize their work. Tebra’s AI Billing Assistant surfaces higher-risk claims before submission, explains likely denial drivers, and helps teams focus on the claims most likely to create costly rework. 

That benefits the entire team. Newer billers onboard faster with additional context, while experienced billers can spend more time solving complex issues, improving processes, building client relationships, and coaching peers.  

As Laura emphasized, the goal is to use AI in a way that is explainable, measurable, safe, and integrated into existing workflows.

Even the best denial management is often reactive. Experienced billers can watch trends and identify patterns – but that’s typically after revenue has already been delayed. AI is shifting this workflow by predicting denials before submission, surfacing potential risk right inside the billing workflow. Tebra’s AI Billing Assistant assigns a risk level to each claim (from low to critical) and likely denial drivers, helping billers quickly identify which claims need additional review before deciding what to do next. 

During the live demo, Laura showed how billers can review AI-generated denial predictions, understand why a claim received a “critical” risk rating, and determine the appropriate next step. 

At every step, it’s the experienced biller who makes the decision about what to do next. AI denial prediction simply focuses their attention. 

Successful AI fits naturally into existing billing workflows. Tools that require teams to move data between systems create unnecessary friction while increasing privacy and compliance risks.  

Laura noted that the teams getting the most value from AI are those that are intentional about where it fits into their workflows. That echoes Tebra’s survey data: 77% of billers say that the billing companies most likely to pull ahead are those that help their staff focus on the right work.

When AI is thoughtfully integrated into existing workflows, billers stay in control while reducing rework. 

The future of denial management isn’t about reacting faster. It’s about identifying risk earlier, before claims are submitted. By combining proven billing fundamentals with AI-driven denial prediction, billing teams can spend less time chasing revenue and more time improving clean claim performance, protecting cash flow, and accelerating payment.

Watch the full on-demand webinar to hear Sarah Ford and Laura Araya Fernandez and see Tebra’s new AI Billing Assistant in action.  

Then schedule a personalized demo to learn how Tebra brings AI-driven denial prediction directly into the billing workflow your team already uses.