Eleven years ago Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi, won the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Grameen Bank and pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. The bank specializes in giving loans to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank lending loan packages. Its loans have made a tremendous difference in the quality of life for millions of people. The citation for Yunus and the bank included praise “for their efforts through microcredit and microfinance to create economic and social development from below”.

Creative and generous credit programs, used responsibly, are very powerful tools to improve the quality of life for patients and care givers. Dr. Yunus’s first loan was $27.00 USD to 42 borrowers (mostly poor women) in one small village. They made an average profit of $0.02 per dollar and created small businesses that even today feed their families. The loans were repaid in full.

Today, Dr. Yunus’s Grameen Bank loans 7 million borrowers an average of $862 of which 94% are poor women starting small businesses to feed their families. The repayment rate is currently between 98 and 99%.

While homecare credit programs are not going to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom and / or Congressional Gold Medal, which were won by Dr. Yunus, we too can help millions of patients have a better life. Nothing makes us a happier in the home healthcare industry than the words we so love to hear: “Thank you. You gave me back my life”.

I believe the power of imagination behind our two newest financing program offers, OxyCare Total Advantage™ and Care Credit, is transformative. They are available through providers like yourself right now and are showing that they, too, have great promise for improving millions of lives. You are missing the boat for yourself and your patients if you do not sign up for both OxyCare Total Advantage and Care Credit.

Specifically, these new credit tools are empowering patients and providers as never before. They enable patients to acquire HME equipment such as portable oxygen equipment (POCs), power chairs, scooters, and more… even if their credit is capped out or nearing its cap. Think about it! There are plenty of patients who would acquire better or more equipment from you if they thought they could afford it.

OxyCare Total Advantage gives them the affordability and confidence to make purchases from you that they might otherwise have been afraid to make. And Care Credit puts the power of numbers on your side with more than eleven million people carrying that card—many of them potential customers for you.

Signing up is easy. Just contact your local OxyGo® sales representative today or call us toll free at 888-327-7300 and touch 1 for Customer Care.

These same credit tools are a win-win for providers because they provide much needed new revenue and profits to offset declining reimbursements.

Why would my patients want OxyCare Total Advantage if they already have MasterCard or Visa credit cards?

MasterCard or Visa credit card holders are what we call Responsible Credit Users or “RCUs”. RCUs know how to use credit responsibly and will recognize the unique insurance and other advantages that OxyCare Total Advantage and Care Credit offer over their current credit cards while in your store. Neither MasterCard or Visa are designed or have the many unique & often exclusive features required by patients.

Why can’t a provider wait until a patient asks for OxyCare Total Advantage or Care Credit and then sign up?

The meek may inherit the earth but they will never do a good job of maximizing your revenues. The idea is for you, as a provider, to be proactive—not reactive. Many patients simply do not know about these new credit programs that are much more flexible and payment-friendly than anything they may have used before.

Providers shouldn’t wait for their competitors to provide HME equipment that vastly improves the patient’s quality of life. Providers should learn about these great programs, often with little or no cost, and reach out to their patients. They shouldn’t wait for another reimbursement cut or their own financial crisis to take action. Sign up now!

My patients are poor or indigent and don’t have any credit!

These programs are designed for your less (financially) fortunate patients also. For example, OxyCare Total Advantage reaches patients with FICO scores as low as 500. While these patients might have to put up some money as a down payment, that’s okay. This is because the down payment is paid directly to you, the provider. You can keep the down payment as an immediate and welcome infusion of cash into your business.

Is the provider responsible for the loan or credit card charge?

No, these are non-recourse loans or charges. The provider is not responsible. Common sense says, though, that if you see or suspect something fraudulent—report it. This would be true for any business transaction.

Are there really 11 million Care Credit card holders out there?

Yes, and more are joining every day. The numbers are huge. And there are around 4 million OxyCare Total Advantage contracts in force today.

How do I sign up?

Contact your local OxyGo sales representative or OxyGo Customer Care: 855-410-4493, med@applied-inc.com.

Should I sign up for both programs?

Yes, OxyCare Total Advantage and Care Credit are different programs that provide widely different patient financing options. For example: with OxyCare Total Advantage reaching FICO scores as low as 500, the program is very much like a furniture or other retailer’s in-store credit plan. However, it is considerably more aggressive in trying to serve as many patients as possible. There is really no financing option comparable to it anywhere.

The Care Credit card is a specialized medical products credit card, specifically designed to improve the lives of your patients with options and services. It is nothing like Visa, MasterCard, or even American Express. Only Care Credit offers your patients features such as insurance that pays off if a patient can’t pay, dies, or is disabled.

Is this the credit future of HME Providers?

Yes, absolutely! These credit programs should be a vital part of any provider’s future.

As one DME offering OxyCare Total Advantage in Arizona told us… “It has opened up revenue gains for us I never thought possible, in just the first few days of my signing up. I am going to start advertising it on my box truck!”