An Ardmore, OK clinic adding an exam room, an imaging unit or a second provider can split the cost three ways: an equipment loan for the machine, a term loan for movable room furnishings and a line of credit for payroll until new claims are paid; fixed room work is excluded. Windpoint Business Funding puts the practice's figures in front of funding partners, and whether and how to fund is each partner's call.
Exam room, imaging unit or new provider: which funding type fits each part of a clinic expansion in Ardmore, OK, with invented figures worked out and the collections records a reviewer can ask to see.
A new exam room, imaging or a second provider
The three projects look alike on a budget line, but the money goes to different things. Exam-room purchases can include movable cabinets, a self-contained sink, freestanding lighting and a table; fixed walls, wiring and plumbing are excluded. An ultrasound or X-ray unit, by contrast, is a machine the vendor tracks by serial number and a later buyer could resell. A second provider is mostly payroll, paid out for weeks before the claims for that provider's visits come back. Matching each part to its own funding type keeps a long-lived machine off a short note, and keeps payroll off a five-year loan.
- Exam room: the supplier quote for movable furnishings, any landlord consent required for setup and the equipment list; fixed room work is excluded.
- Imaging unit: the vendor quote with model, warranty terms and supplier setup; shielding and electrical work are fixed and excluded.
- Second provider: the start date, the salary and benefits, and a realistic first month of billed visits.
- All three: the last twelve months of deposits and the most recent accounts receivable aging report.
Size matters for how hard a project hits the books. Most physician offices in Carter County, OK run lean: County Business Patterns put 30 of the 49 establishments under NAICS 6211, offices of physicians, below five employees in 2023. Offices of other health practitioners (NAICS 6213), which take in chiropractors, physical therapists and optometrists, numbered 48 the same year. In an office of four, one new hire adds a fifth person to a payroll built for four, so the timing of that hire is as much a funding question as the equipment is. The medical practices page covers the county data for these offices.
Equipment loan for machines, term loan for movable room furnishings
An imaging unit can carry its own note, secured by the unit, over a term near its useful life. Movable room furnishings can have supplier quotes and a term loan can be matched to their useful lives; fixed suite work is excluded. This site does not arrange loans on the building or the land.
Illustration only, invented figures: an $86,000 ultrasound unit on a 60-month note at an invented annual rate of 9.5%, and a $42,000 movable exam-room furnishings package on a 48-month term loan at 11% a year.
| Item | Amount and term | Monthly payment | All payments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultrasound unit (equipment note) | $86,000, 60 months, annual rate 9.5% | $1,806.16 | $108,369.60 |
| Movable exam-room furnishings (term loan) | $42,000, 48 months, annual rate 11% | $1,085.51 | $52,104.48 |
Together the two notes cost the clinic $2,891.67 a month in this example, until the movable-furnishings loan ends after month 48 and only the $1,806.16 imaging payment is left for the last 12 months. The equipment financing page has a calculator for testing other prices and terms against the practice's own collections.
Payroll before new billing arrives
A second provider is paid from the first week, while the claims for that provider's visits are submitted, processed and paid weeks later. Across Carter County, OK, health care and social assistance establishments had 3,395 paid employees in the March 2023 pay period, more than any other NAICS sector in that year's County Business Patterns.
Illustration only, invented figures: the new provider and an assistant add $9,600 to each biweekly payroll, and the practice expects 75 days before that provider's collections cover it. A 75-day stretch holds 5 or 6 biweekly paydays, depending on where the first one falls, so the gap in this example is $48,000 to $57,600.
That gap fits a line of credit better than a term loan: the clinic draws as each payroll comes due, pays the balance down as the new provider's claims are paid, and pays interest only on what is drawn. A partner can set the limit by looking at current collections, so the line can be in place before the hire rather than after it.
What a funder reads in a clinic's collections
Deposits tell part of the story; the aging report tells the rest. A reviewer can look at monthly deposits for a year, the split between insurance and self-pay, and how much money sits in older aging buckets. Old balances matter because they show how much of the receivables may never turn into cash.
| Age of balance | Amount owed |
|---|---|
| 0-30 days | $64,200 |
| 31-60 days | $28,900 |
| 61-90 days | $11,400 |
| Over 90 days | $7,300 |
| Total | $111,800 |
In this example, $18,700 of $111,800 is more than 60 days old, or 16.7% of the total. A practice that can show the figure, explain the oldest balances and show that denials are worked rather than written off gives a reviewer a clear picture. Other articles for Ardmore, OK owners sit on the Windpoint blog.
By Windpoint Business Funding · Updated
