Elmgate Lending in Opelika, Alabama helps Lee County, AL physician practices describe an equipment purchase, a buy-in or a claims gap and passes the request to funding partners who decide on approval and terms.
At a glance
- Offices of physicians
Offices of physicians in Lee County, AL: 72 employers, 833 paid employees (CBP 2023)
- Physician offices in ZIP 36801
Offices of physicians with a ZIP 36801 address: 24 (ZBP 2023)
- Ambulatory health care
Ambulatory health care services in Lee County, AL: 230 employers (CBP 2023)
- Health care payroll
Health care and social assistance payroll in Lee County, AL: $392.7 million (CBP 2023)
Physician Practice Loans for an Opelika, AL Medical Practice: Lab Analyzers and a Second Office
A practice adding an in-house lab analyzer is buying equipment that earns back its cost test by test, and equipment financing fits it. A second office is a bigger project: the lease, the build-out, the equipment and the staff all start before the new location bills its first visit. A term loan for the build-out and equipment, plus a credit line for the first months of payroll, is one way to structure it.
Partners reading a second-office request look at the existing practice's collections reports, payroll, tax returns, the new lease and the build-out bid. A plan for how patients will be scheduled at the new site, with modest numbers, helps the request.
Medical Business Loans: How a Lee County, AL Medical Practice Puts It to Work on Billing Gaps
A billing gap is the time between a visit and the insurance payment for it. During that time the practice pays wages, rent and supplies. Illustration only, invented figures: a practice with $48,000 of claims outstanding and a monthly payroll of $31,000 has more than a full month's payroll, about 1.5 months of it, tied up in unpaid claims at any given time (our arithmetic). A working capital loan or a credit line drawn against that gap and paid down as claims settle matches the cost.
Partners look at the practice's accounts receivable aging, its payer mix and its history of denied or delayed claims. A practice switching billing systems or adding a payer can explain the temporary gap in a short note.
A practice comparing options for the gap can ask about a credit line sized to a typical month of outstanding claims, a short working capital loan for a one-off delay such as a payer's system change, and the cost of each in total dollars. Lines carry review dates, so a practice that draws steadily and pays down as claims settle presents better at renewal than one whose balance never moves.
Physician Practice Buy in Loan When an Opelika, AL Medical Practice Needs Exam-Room Equipment
A physician buying into a practice pays the existing owners for a share of the business. The buy-in agreement sets the price and the terms, and a term loan can fund the price. If the buy-in comes with new exam-room equipment, such as tables, lights and diagnostic sets, that equipment can be financed separately against itself.
County Business Patterns counted 72 offices of physicians with paid employees in Lee County, AL for 2023, 24 of them in ZIP 36801, and 35 of the 72 had fewer than five employees. Practices that size can see a buy-in or a retirement change the ownership of the whole practice.
Can You Buy a Medical Practice? An Example With Ultrasound Units
Yes, a medical practice can be bought, and the purchase works like any business acquisition: price, down payment, possibly a seller note, and a term loan for the rest. Partners lean heavily on the selling physician's collections history and on whether patients are expected to stay with the practice. Illustration only, invented figures: if the buyer also wants two ultrasound units worth $52,000, financing them at an annual rate of 9% over 60 months would add about $1,079 a month (our arithmetic).
Business term loans walks through a purchase with a seller note, and the valuation calculator gives a first revenue-based estimate.
Medical Practice Financing Explained With a Lee County, AL Medical Practice Buying EHR Hardware
EHR hardware means workstations, tablets, servers, scanners and network equipment, plus installation and training. The hardware can be financed as equipment; the software license or subscription often sits outside the loan. A practice can ask the vendor to separate the quote into hardware, setup and recurring fees so each part can be funded the right way.
Ambulatory health care services, which include physician, dental and other practitioners' offices along with outpatient centers and home health, counted 230 employers in Lee County, AL in 2023 (County Business Patterns). Health care and social assistance as a whole paid $392.7 million in wages, the second-largest sector payroll in the county after manufacturing.
Dental office loans and daycare center financing cover neighboring health and care trades, and equipment financing, working capital loans, the Opelika, AL business page and the other industry pages add more.
Term lengths for imaging, buy-ins and claims gaps are covered in the article on how long practices take to repay loans.
By Elmgate Lending · Updated