Bartlett, TN medical practices finance equipment with equipment financing, movable suite equipment with a term loan, and the gap before insurance claims pay with working capital or a line of credit. Matching each cost to the product that ends when the cost does keeps payments in line with collections. A funding partner decides any terms.
How a Bartlett, TN practice can finance equipment and movable suite furnishings, cover payroll before claims pay, use a credit line for supplies and staffing, and prepare the file a funding partner reviews.
Medical practice financing for equipment and space
Medical practice financing splits along the same line as any other business: equipment that can be resold, and space that cannot. Equipment financing fits an ultrasound unit, exam tables, sterilizers or a lab analyzer, with the equipment as collateral. Movable clinic furniture and identifiable equipment can be quoted separately; fixed suite plumbing and wiring are excluded. A landlord allowance for eligible items can reduce the amount the practice has to finance.
Illustration only, invented figures: a Bartlett, TN practice adds an ultrasound unit for $64,000 and adds $120,000 of movable suite furnishings and equipment, with a $45,000 allowance from the landlord for eligible items; fixed room work is excluded.
| Item | Amount financed | Product | Term | Rate per year (invented) | Monthly payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultrasound unit | $64,000 | Equipment financing | 60 months | 9.25% | $1,336.31 |
| Movable suite furnishings and equipment after the allowance | $75,000 | Term loan | 84 months | 11% | $1,284.18 |
The two payments total $2,620.49 a month in this example. Without the landlord's allowance in this example, the movable-suite loan would have been $120,000 instead of $75,000.
Buying the building itself is outside what this site arranges; the products here pay for the practice and its movable equipment, not the property.
Covering the gap before insurance claims pay
A practice pays staff on a fixed schedule but is paid by insurers on theirs. The gap grows whenever the practice adds a provider, because the new payroll starts on day one and the first claims for that provider's patients pay weeks later. Working capital is the product built for that wait.
Illustration only, invented figures: a practice hires a nurse practitioner at $4,400 every two weeks, and the first claims for her visits pay 40 days after she starts. In this example her salary goes out 2 or 3 times in those 40 days (the count turns on the first payday's date), so the practice fronts $8,800 to $13,200 before she brings in a dollar.
Front-office habits shorten the wait before any financing: collecting the patient's share at the visit, submitting claims the same day, and working denials while they are fresh. Financing covers what remains.
Payroll timing matters for a practice. Offices of physicians in Shelby County, TN reported $1.31 billion of 2023 payroll for 11,795 employees in the March pay period (CBP, NAICS 6211), about $110,957 per employee for the year by our arithmetic, a figure that counts physicians on payroll.
A credit line for supplies and staffing swings
Supplies and staffing do not move in step with collections. A line of credit lets a practice draw for a supply order or a stretch of temporary staff and pay the balance down as claims settle, so interest runs only on what is drawn.
Illustration only, invented figures: a practice draws $30,000 for a supply order and a temporary medical assistant, and pays it back in 60 days. Priced at an invented 13.5% a year, those two months on the line cost $665.75 in interest. The same $30,000 as a 36-month term loan at an invented 11% would be $982.16 a month and $5,357.76 of interest over the term, more than the line in this example because the money stays out for three years instead of two months.
Staffing swings are the other use. When a provider takes leave or a medical assistant position sits open, a practice can bring in agency staff for a few weeks while collections dip with the lighter schedule. A draw for that stretch, paid down once the schedule refills, leaves the operating account for payroll and rent.
The comparison turns on time, not on the rate: a line costs less when it is paid down in weeks, and a term loan suits a purchase that pays off over years.
What a medical lender looks for in a practice file
A funding partner looking at a practice can review:
- State medical licenses for each provider and any board certifications
- A payer mix report: the share of collections from each insurer and from patients
- A claims aging report, with unpaid claims grouped by age
- Twelve months of collections and the practice's profit and loss statement
- Business tax returns and bank statements
- The lease for the suite and the supplier's quote for movable furnishings and equipment
- Quotes for the equipment, and a list of current loans and leases
Together, the payer mix and claims aging reports show how much of the money billed is on its way and how old it is, the part of a practice file that is specific to medicine.
Physician offices have neighbors in other health fields: ZIP Code Business Patterns put 29 offices of other health practitioners, a group that includes chiropractors, physical therapists and optometrists, at ZIP 38134 addresses in 2023 (NAICS 6213). The medical practice funding page has the physician office counts, and the blog index links the other articles.
By Eaglestone Funding Group · Updated
