📝 Overview
Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA) files let you receive insurance payment information electronically instead of through paper Explanation of Benefits (EOBs). When ChiroHD receives an ERA file, it automatically reads the payment details and creates EOBs for your staff to review and finalize. This article covers what an ERA is, how ERAs flow through your insurance workflow, where to find them in ChiroHD, and how to manage ERA files from the Insurance Dashboard.
What is an ERA?
An ERA is the electronic version of a paper EOB. Instead of an insurance payer mailing you a paper explanation of benefits, they send a standardized electronic file describing:
How the claim was processed
What was paid
What was adjusted
What was denied
ChiroHD reads this payment information and automatically creates one or more EOBs from it for your staff to review.
You can receive ERA files in two ways:
Automatically, through an active clearinghouse SFTP connection
Manually, by uploading an ERA file yourself
For manual upload steps, see the other resources on this topic in Insurance Lesson 2.
How ERAs and EOBs Work Together
An ERA and an EOB are related, but they're not the same thing:
An ERA is the electronic payment file received from the insurance payer.
An EOB is the payment record ChiroHD creates from that ERA, which your staff reviews and finalizes.
One check = one EOB. A single ERA file can contain multiple checks (payments) from a payer. Each check inside the ERA becomes its own separate EOB in ChiroHD.
Before You Begin
Any user will need Insurance permissions to access the Insurance Dashboard.
Your office must have an active clearinghouse SFTP connection for ERA files to arrive automatically.
Accessing the Insurance Dashboard
Navigate to your Live Location, Insurance Tab. This opens the Insurance Dashboard.
NOTE: If you don't see the Insurance tab, you likely don't have Insurance permissions yet — contact your office administrator.
Insurance Dashboard Overview
The Insurance Dashboard is your central workspace for:
Creating claims
Posting EOBs
Managing ERA files
Lets go through each section of the Insurance Dashboard.
Accounts Receivable — A snapshot of your outstanding insurance balances, broken out by general insurance and personal injury claims. These figures update automatically as claims are submitted and EOBs are finalized.
Addressable Unbilled — Services that haven't been billed to insurance yet.
Pending EOBs — Your action queue.
EOBs generated from ERA files that ChiroHD successfully processed.
Manually saved draft EOBs that your staff started but haven't finalized.
Everything here needs review before it can post to a patient's ledger.
Managing ERA Files
Below the Pending EOBs section is the ERA section of the Insurance Dashboard, where you manage incoming ERA files.
This section is only visible if your office has the ERA feature enabled.
ERA section is where you manage incoming ERA files.
Each row represents one ERA file ChiroHD received. When you expand this row, it will show more information called the ERA card.
Failed vs Processed ERAs
Failed means ChiroHD received the file but ran into something it couldn't resolve on its own. Many failed ERAs can be fixed without contacting support.
Please see the Resolving Failed ERAs article for troubleshooting steps.
Processed means the ERA was successfully turned into one or more EOBs, which now live in your Pending EOBs queue, waiting for review and finalization. Processed ERAs say in the Processed Tab for reference — their EOBs have already moved into your Pending EOBs queue, and you can click View EOBs on a processed ERA to jump straight to them.
Refresh icon — The small refresh icon next to the Failed/Processed toggle reloads the ERA list without leaving the page. Useful if you're expecting a new file from your clearinghouse.
Show Manually Entered — A checkbox that reveals ERA files you've already marked as manually resolved. These are hidden by default since they're considered complete, and once shown, they no longer have any action buttons next to them.
Search ERAs — Searches by file name only. It won't find results by patient name, claim details, or error message text.
Upload ERA — Lets you manually upload an ERA file.
See our other resources for more information on How to manually upload an ERA file
✅ Key takeaways
An ERA is the electronic version of an EOB — but they're not the same record.
ERAs arrive automatically via SFTP or can be uploaded manually.
One insurance check inside an ERA becomes one EOB.
ChiroHD auto-allocates payment info but never auto-posts payments — every EOB needs your review first.
The Insurance Dashboard is your hub for claims, EOBs, and ERA management.
📌 Conclusion
Understanding the ERA workflow in ChiroHD is essential for efficient insurance payment management. By following the outlined steps to access and review ERAs and EOBs, your team ensures all insurance payments are processed accurately, and only vetted information is posted to patient ledgers. This helps maintain precise financial records and supports smooth insurance operations in your practice.