Doctors, surgeons and every other kind of healthcare professional should consider how they can increase their business profits by bringing another service to their clientele. This service is financing options.

By being able to offer their patients the option to make monthly payments at a low rate of interest for expensive elective surgeries and other procedures they can expect their business to boom (or at least increase).

Where Health Insurance Leaves Off

Most elective surgery is not covered by health insurance. Very little cosmetic surgery is covered by health insurance either. Orthodontics, laser eye surgeries and many other procedures that cost thousands of dollars are not covered by health insurance. This means that people must pay cold hard cash when they choose to go under the knife for these kinds of things. If they do not have the cold hard cash all at once for it, they often put off procedures that can improve the quality of their lives considerably.

If your business were able to offer such patients the option of financing their work, they would not postpone it indefinitely because of their lack of cash. This means that they get their procedures done and you increase the amount of work you are bringing into your clinic. This is a win-win situation for both you and your patients.

Where Credit Cards Begin

Credit cards are often used by patients when they do not have the cash to pay for the work they want done. Many credit card offers start with a low rate of interest and people take advantage of this for costly things like healthcare procedures. No annual fees on cards, rewards and credit card offers online often make people a little more comfortable with putting this large expense onto a credit card. While this can be an excellent way to get work done without providing any cash up front, it can also be an expensive way to handle the matter. Your patient’s credit score will determine the rate of their credit cards and even if they have excellent credit a credit card usually cannot offer the low rate that a personal loan can offer.

Credit cards are one of the greatest financial tools you can have at your disposal but it simply may not be the best way to pay for healthcare expenses that are not covered by health insurance.

Get Them Financed

Financing from credit card companies or banks that offer loans for medical procedures is a better way to go. Interest will probably be at a low rate compared to a credit card and your patients may qualify for instant approval for the funds they need to spend at your office.

While financing helps your patients pay for costly work, you cannot afford to become a bank or lending institution. You cannot offer a monthly payment arrangement to them on your own.

There are other organizations that can help you in this matter. Financial institutions that can provide your customers with the financing they need without you having to provide the funds or doing the paperwork. You can partner up with organizations like GE Capital Consumer Card Company who offer a financing plan called Credit Care. This is one of the largest healthcare financers in North America. They have been in the business of lending money to patients for elective procedures for a long time and they are much better at it than you could ever be on your own.

Another good option is with Capital One. These credit card companies offer individual healthcare financing as well and they also take on all the paperwork involved and the collection of monthly payments. Once you have been paid by Capital One, you are almost completely out of the equation and your patients will deal directly with them.

How to Start Offering Financing

So, how do you start using these wonderful plans that will help you increase your business and boost your profitability? Well, the first thing to do is to contact providers of the healthcare financing. Set up a meeting to discuss what kinds of financing options they have to offer and how each one works. Some questions you will want to have answered may include:

• When do I get paid for my work?
• Who is in charge of approving or declining an application made by my patients?
• Who does the paperwork?
• Do you take a percentage of my fees to the patient for my participation in this plan?
• Who assumes the risk for patients who default on their loan?
• What can you offer my patients?
• Do you have more than one finance plan to offer?
• How long does it take for my patients to be approved?

Other Benefits

When elective surgeries and procedures are financed by your patients there are a lot of benefits both to you and to them.

• Your patients don’t have to wait to get work done that will instantly improve their lives
• You don’t have to perform so many pre-surgery assessments that don’t result in generated business for you
• Your staff doesn’t have to deal with any extra paperwork or billing (the financer will provide you with application forms and brochures for your patients and they process everything on their own)
• Your patients can afford expensive work because it is broken down into manageable monthly payments that can be up to five years
• You don’t pay fees to the financing companies for weeks when you don’t actually refer any patients to them and there is no annual fee

It costs you nothing to find out what is available from credit card companies and banks for financing your patients. You will need to invest a little time gathering the information and deciding which plan you want to use in your office. It is easy to get into and because all the financing paperwork is done outside your office you don’t need to dedicate any staff to keeping it in order.

There really is nothing to lose in finding out about this kind of product from financial providers. It can be one of the best things you have ever done – both for you and for your patients.