Brian McCarthy, senior vice president and general counsel of CarePayment. Courtesy photo.

For the new top lawyer at growing patient financial engagement company CarePayment, the gig is the confluence of two of his interests—specialty financing and health care services.

Brian McCarthy will serve as CarePayment's senior vice president and general counsel, the Nashville, Tennessee-based company announced Thursday. He will oversee the company's legal, compliance and human resources departments.

The new GC began his career in the structured finance group at Guggenheim Partners in Chicago and most recently was vice president and general counsel at Occusystems Services, a company that provides health care services to employees injured on the job.

In an interview with Corporate Counsel on Friday, McCarthy said he was drawn to CarePayment because of its innovation.

“I think that the company is being innovative in meeting an unmet need [in] the marketplace, given the high-deductible health care plans and rising costs of health care,” he said. “We are able to solve a problem that needs solving and do it in a way that is a win-win for both the provider and patients.”

Based in Portland, Oregon, until last year, CarePayment contracts with health care providers for the accounts of patients, to whom the company then offers a zero-interest payment program for up to 72 months, depending on the bill and the patient's needs. Last month, it announced that the number of patients it serves had increased to 3.3 million, up from 2.2 million one year ago.

McCarthy said that given the company's operations “at the intersection of two of the most highly regulated industries in the world,” one of his main priorities for the legal department will be “ensuring the continuation of its robust compliance program that is integral to the company and part of its culture.”

Prior to joining Occusystems in October 2014, McCarthy was a paid adviser for Epiphany Health Ventures and before that the director of development and administration for Diabetes Care Group, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He received his law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School.