Prepare for Peak Patient Payment Season

If you want to collect more patient revenue, the most important thing to know is this: Q2 is your best chance to get paid – and many providers miss it. Patients are most likely to pay in April through June, but slow, reactive processes mean that opportunity closes before collections happen.

What we’ll cover:

• Why Q2 drives the highest patient payment volumes every year
• Why most providers miss this window (and lose revenue)
• The difference between reactive and proactive collection strategies
• What high-performing organizations do to collect faster and reduce bad debt

Every year, it happens like clockwork. April arrives, patient payment volumes spike, and healthcare organizations are left chasing payment balances.

If you’re wondering why the second quarter matters so much, here’s what’s driving the increase: Patients start meeting their annual deductibles. Tax refunds hit bank accounts in April and May. And providers send higher statement volumes from procedures completed earlier in the year. This convergence creates a predictable surge in patient payment activity. Industry research confirms it happens during the same window every year.

The data doesn’t lie. Across Inovalon’s customer network spanning 2023-2025, April, May, and June consistently drive the highest patient payment volumes of the year. Yet according to the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), most providers struggle to capitalize on this opportunity – sending an average of 3.3 statements before receiving payment and taking 3.5 months to collect. By the time those multiple statements have gone out, the prime collection window has closed.

The numbers tell a stark story: the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) reports that providers collect just 24% of patient billings overall. Miss the Q2 window when patients are most likely to pay, and that already-low percentage drops even further. And if you’re relying on extended payment plans to make up the difference? HFMA found that default rates on plans exceeding 12 months are higher than 20%.

But the organizations that succeed during this window aren’t doing anything magical. They’re simply prepared.

Here’s what you need to know (and do).

Why Q2 is the most important patient collection window

The rise of high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) has fundamentally changed the patient payment landscape. Patients are now shouldering more of their healthcare costs upfront, and they’re taking longer to meet those deductibles.

The result? Out-of-pocket balances from January, February, and March don’t get settled until spring — making Q2 the moment of truth for patient collections.

Patient collections rose 133% from 2011 to 2024. Patients are now the third-largest payer in healthcare, behind only Medicare and Medicaid. And with 62% of consumers preferring to pay medical bills online,  the organizations still relying on paper statements and manual follow-up are fighting a losing battle.

You will notice that payment volumes naturally decline in Q3. If you’re not prepared, you may end up writing off revenue that could have been collected.

The reactive vs. proactive divide

There are two types of healthcare organizations heading into Q2. Which one are you?

Reactive organizations 

Reactive organizations send a statement and hope for the best. When patients don’t respond, they send another. And another. By the time they’re actively pursuing payment, it’s July and the collection window has already started closing. Staff manually track accounts one by one, their AR is stretching past 90 days, and bad debt write-offs are climbing.

With more billing statements and an extended collection cycle, a statement sent in April may not get paid until July or August – right when payment volumes are dropping off.

Proactive organizations 

Proactive organizations don’t wait for patients to come to them. They have a plan in place before April even arrives. They’ve mapped out their statement schedules, their multi-channel outreach cadence (text, email, portal, phone), and their follow-up workflows. They use automation to handle routine cases so their staff can focus on the accounts that need their assistance. The result? Faster collections. Lower bad debt. Less staff burnout. And more revenue captured during the peak window.

What separates the best from the rest

High-performing organizations share a few common traits when it comes to Q2 patient payments:

• They engage from statement one – not statement two or three. The longer you wait to engage a patient, the less likely you are to collect.
• They meet patients where they are. With a 243% increase in e-statement adoption from 2016–2024, digital engagement is no longer optional. High performers integrate patient portals, text, email, and phone into a coordinated outreach sequence.
• They address affordability head-on. 72% of patients cite affordability as their biggest challenge. Payment plans, card-on-file, digital wallets, and clear out-of-pocket explanations remove barriers that turn a willing payer into a write-off.
• They use automation strategically. Automation isn’t about replacing people; it’s about freeing them to focus on higher-value work. Automating reminders, settlement attempts, and escalations allows staff to focus on complex cases that need real attention.

Your Q2 readiness checklist

Ask yourself:

• Can your systems and staff handle the Q2 surge?
• Are you communicating across multiple channels, or just sending paper statements?
• Are you giving patients convenient, digital-first ways to pay?
• Do you have payment plan options for patients who need flexibility?
• Is your follow-up cadence systematic or ad hoc?
• Are you measuring and iterating based on performance data?

If you’re not confident in your answers, now is the time to act.

How Inovalon helps you capture more patient revenue

Inovalon’s Patient Payment Management^TM and Patient Statement Management^TM are built specifically to help healthcare organizations capture more revenue during peak collection periods.

Together, these solutions help you:

• Improve cash flow by an average of 25%¹ by making it easier for patients to pay through online portals, and multi-touch digital channels
• Cut statement costs by an average of 75%² by shifting to e-statements and reducing reliance on paper mail
• Shorten your revenue cycle with next-day mailing, QR codes on statements linking directly to your payment portal, and automated follow-up workflows
• Stay secure and compliant with PCI compliance, end-to-end encryption, and built-in fraud monitoring

The organizations that perform best in Q2 are the ones who prepare in advance. They don’t hope for the best – they plan for success.

Ready to see where you stand?

Contact Inovalon today to review your current patient payment data, benchmark you against industry trends, identify your biggest gaps, and give you an actionable plan to make this your most financially successful Q2 yet.

 

1.Internal Inovalon ROI Calculator, August 2023

2.Inovalon Price Book 2024

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