What causes the February decrease in payments posted?

February’s decrease in posted payments is primarily a timing issue related to patient deductibles at the start of the year.

As you know, most insurance plans reset deductibles on January 1st. For services rendered in January, many claims are processed with amounts applied to the patient’s deductible rather than being paid by the insurance carrier. As a result, those balances shift to patient responsibility instead of generating immediate insurance payments.

Since claim processing and payment posting typically occur a few weeks after the date of service, this creates a lag effect—where January services impact February’s payment totals.

In short, the dip in February collections is expected and seasonal, driven by:

• Deductible resets at the beginning of the year

• Increased patient responsibility balances

• Normal claims processing timelines

We typically see collections stabilize and improve in the following months as patients begin meeting their deductibles and insurance payments increase.