Practice Financing Programs

Funding programs for medical and dental practices

Direct answer

Healthcare practices and healthcare businesses use 11 programs, from practice acquisition and de novo projects to receivables factoring and agency-backed structures. Each fits a different situation, and the wrong instrument costs money that the right one does not. Practition Finance explains the categories and, by state, refers the request to funding partners.

As of October 2026

The categories below are not interchangeable. A receivables structure and a term loan answer different questions, and using one where the other belongs is the most common and most expensive mistake in this market.

Each page sets out who the category fits, who it does not, what the market publishes for terms with the source attached, what a funder reads, and how long the process runs.

Pick the program that matches your practice

Practices paid at the point of service
Practice acquisition
Buying an existing practice, with working capital added to the note
1 to 2 weeks to a first read
Practices paid at the point of service
Startup and de novo
Building a first location, with the ramp period financed into one note
2 to 6 weeks to a first read
Both audiences
Expansion, relocation, and build-out
A second location, more rooms, or a remodel, underwritten on current cash flow
2 to 4 weeks to a first read
Both audiences
Equipment financing and leasing
Chairs, lasers, imaging, and vehicles, with the tax treatment set by the structure
days to a first read
Both audiences
Working capital term loan
Fixed-term cash for the gap between spending and collecting
1 to 3 days to a first read
Both audiences
Business line of credit
Revolving cash for uneven weeks, interest on the drawn balance only
days to a first read
Operations that bill insurance
Medical receivables factoring
Cash against verified claims, advanced on net collectible value, not gross charges
2 to 5 days to a first read
Operations that bill insurance
Healthcare AR line and payroll funding
A borrowing base against eligible invoices, sized for payroll weeks
1 to 2 weeks to a first read
Both audiences
SBA 7(a) and 504
Agency-backed structures for acquisitions, projects, and buildings
1 to 2 weeks to a first read
Both audiences
Commercial real estate, owner-occupied
The building the practice operates in, amortized up to 25 years
1 to 2 weeks to a first read
Practices paid at the point of service
Partner buy-in, buy-out, and refinance
Buying into a partnership, buying a partner out, or consolidating existing debt
varies by the parties to a first read

Explained, but never led with

Merchant cash advance and revenue-based financing

The costliest structure here, priced in dollars and gated by state

Reference figures

Four figures the program pages return to, with their sources and dates
Figure	Current	Confidence	Source
WSJ prime rate	6.75%	VerifiedAugust 2026	Lendio, sbaloanindex.com
SBA 7(a) maximum	$5,000,000, guaranty 85% to $150,000 and 75% above	VerifiedAugust 2026	SBA-derived calculators
Factoring advance rate	70% to 95% of net collectible value	VerifiedAugust 2026	Clarify Capital, Crestmont, Factor Finders
Section 179 limit, 2026	$2,560,000, phase-out from $4,090,000	VerifiedAugust 2026	Section179.org, Ameris Bank, Rev. Proc. 2025-32

Outside the scope of these programs

Consumer payment plans at the front desk
CareCredit, Cherry, Sunbit, PatientFi, and Affirm are merchant services that pay the practice up front for a discount fee. They move case acceptance. They do not finance the business.
Physician mortgages and personal lending
A doctor mortgage is a consumer mortgage product at a different desk. Personal lending and student loan refinancing sit outside the scope of Practition Finance.
HUD 232 and 232(f) facility loans
Assisted living, skilled nursing, and memory care facilities start at $2,000,000 with 35-year non-recourse terms. Referral only, outside the lead form.

Questions people ask

How many financing categories are there for a healthcare practice?

Practition Finance covers 11 categories used by licensed practices and healthcare businesses, plus merchant cash advance and other revenue-based financing, which are explained and gated by state rather than led with. Each category has its own page setting out who it fits, what the market publishes for terms, what documents a funder reads, and how long the process runs.

Which program fits an insurance-billed operator?

Operators paid by third parties usually start with medical receivables factoring or a healthcare AR line, because the gap is claims waiting to pay rather than a shortage of margin. Working capital and lines of credit sit alongside those. The distinguishing question is whether the money is already earned and pending, or whether it has not been earned yet.

Which program fits a cash-pay practice?

Practices paid at the point of service collect the fee at the visit, so the categories that matter are the ones tied to events: acquisition, de novo projects, expansion, equipment, and real estate. Working capital and a line of credit cover timing. Receivables structures rarely apply, because there is no third-party receivable to advance against.

Why is merchant cash advance treated differently here?

Because it is the costliest structure covered here and the easiest to stack. It has a page that explains the arithmetic in dollars, it is not offered in the states named in the availability paragraph above and in the footer, and every cheaper category is answered before it. Practition Finance treats it as a last resort rather than a product to lead with.

What does Practition Finance charge a practice?

Nothing. Practition Finance is an independent business financing referral service compensated by funding partners when a referred account activates. It explains the structures and then, depending on the state, either refers the request to our funding partners, who present any offer and its terms directly, or transfers the inquiry to a funding partner that contacts the practice and arranges any financing itself.

Are the figures on these pages quotes?

No. Every number is a published market figure, dated, with its publisher in the sources at the bottom of the page. Nothing here is a credit decision, an offer, or an indication of terms for your file.

Sources

The primary references behind the figures above and the program pages beneath them. Each program page lists the sources specific to it.

Figures as of August 2026

Take the checklist with you

Practices

Practice Financing Readiness Kit

What a lender reads before it reads your numbers

PDF · 9 pages · v1.0

The practice document checklist, in the order a lender asks for it
The valuation ladder: percent of collections, SDE multiple, and EBITDA multiple
The acquisition capital stack, drawn
The de novo cash curve to break-even
The lease versus loan after-tax comparison worksheet
The 12 questions to ask before signing a letter of intent

Other places to start

One conversation narrows 11 categories down to the two worth comparing

Start the conversation Run the Fit Check