SimpleSelect Patient Finance® offers medical providers an alternative to medical credit cards for their patient finance needs.
Charleston, SC – January 2, 2014. East Bridge Funding (East Bridge) has announced the launch of their new patient finance division. SimpleSelect Patient Finance℠ (SimpleSelect) gives providers an alternative to medical credit cards when offering patient financing options for expensive medical procedures such as cosmetic surgery, LASIK, hearing aides, dental, and veterinary. The program aims to help providers better serve their patients by offering a closed-end, fixed-interest installment loan as opposed to an open-end, high-interest medical credit card. SimpleSelect is available now to providers within the United States including Hawaii and Alaska.
East Bridge, a leading provider of consumer finance programs to retailers and service providers, beta tested the SimpleSelect program with providers during 2013 and is now prepared for a nationwide release. East Bridge hopes to change the way patient financing is used in elective medical offices by persuading providers to offer patients a loan product that is better suited than a credit card for making a large-ticket purchase such as a cosmetic procedure.
“The patient finance industry has needed a facelift,” said Daniel O’Connor, Managing Director at East Bridge. “Medical credit card programs have dominated the patient financing space for a long time. They are useful for financing smaller, repeat transactions, but are not the right loan product to finance a large-ticket elective medical procedure.” Daniel went on to further explain the problems associated with medical credit cards. “They have a high default rate of interest, usually near 30%, so providers resort to promoting 0% interest options the credit card company offers, otherwise the patients would never use the program. Who would want a 30% interest credit card to pay for their expensive medical procedure?” Mr. O’Connor continued by saying that these promotions are expensive for the provider and can also be troublesome for the patient. “There is no such thing as a 0% interest medical credit card, so when the promotional period runs out, the patient is in trouble if they have not paid off the balance in full. This can be very confusing to patients and that is why you see an increasing number of lawsuits and bad press associated with medical credit cards.”
East Bridge feels that government regulations and the crackdown on medical credit cards will push providers to look for alternative solutions for financing their patients. “Credit card programs have been successful in the medical space because of the ease of use. Installment loan programs have typically been cumbersome because of the added paperwork and full disclosure of terms to the debtor. We knew that in order to be successful, we needed to make our loan product as easy to use as applying for a credit card while still properly disclosing the terms of the loan to the patient.”
East Bridge worked with one of their long-term capital partners to create an installment loan program that provides instant credit decisions and processes the documents electronically. “Our program is simple, fair, and flexible for both the patient and the provider. Using an installment loan program, providers can significantly reduce costs while giving patients access to a safer, more suitable loan product.” Because of this, Mr. O’Connor feels that patients will also embrace the program. “Patients want to know what they are agreeing to when they sign a financial loan agreement. You wouldn’t use a credit card to buy a house or a car so why would you use one to pay for an expensive medical procedure?”
About East Bridge Funding
East Bridge Funding, headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina is a leading provider of consumer finance programs for retailers and service providers in the United States. East Bridge provides consumer financing solutions for all levels of credit and specializes in programs for jewelry, furniture, home improvement, and online retail. East Bridge is also active in the medical, funeral, and educational financing space. For more information visit www.EastBridgeFunding.com or contact Daniel O’Connor, Managing Director at 843-971-7541 or email [email protected].
