Start with triage, not panic
Not every denial is worth the same effort. Sort the backlog by recoverable value and deadline: large claims and claims nearing timely-filing limits first. A denial worked in the wrong order is revenue lost in the right order.
Appeals are documents, not requests
Payers deny appeals that argue and approve appeals that prove. The winning pattern is consistent: the denial reason answered point by point, the supporting record attached, and every submission logged so follow-up has something to stand on.
Fix the spring, not just the leak
Every denial family has an upstream cause — an eligibility check skipped, a code pair that never pays, an authorisation nobody requested. Recovery without prevention means the same backlog rebuilds next quarter. The real win is a denial rate that falls month after month.
Measure it weekly
Dollars recovered, appeals pending, first-pass rate. If those three numbers are not on one page every week, the backlog is managing you instead of the other way around.