Medical practices
A busy practice can be short of cash precisely because it is busy. Here is how to measure the gap between services billed and money in the account, and when funding it makes sense.
✓ Checking what you qualify for does not affect your credit score.
Updated October 13, 2026 · Merchant Fund Express
A practice bills today and is paid later, on each payer’s own clock. Payroll, rent and supplies run on a fixed calendar. When volume grows, a new payer is added, or a payer slows down, the practice can be profitable on paper and short in the bank account for weeks.
Funding can bridge that gap, but only once you know how big it is, how long it lasts, and whether it repeats. A one-time slowdown and a permanent mismatch call for different answers.
Billed charges are not cash. What matters is what has been collected, and how many days it took. Work from your practice management system’s aging report, grouped by payer type, never by individual account. No funder needs patient-level detail, and you should not send it.
| Aging bucket | What usually sits there | How to treat it |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 30 days | Most recent claims | Expected, if clean |
| 31 to 60 days | Normal for many commercial payers | Watch for growth here |
| 61 to 90 days | Slow payers, rework, missing information | Usually the source of the squeeze |
| 90+ days | Denials and appeals | Do not count on it for payroll |
If the 61 to 90 day bucket is growing month over month, the gap is getting wider, and borrowing simply covers it for longer.
A practice with about $95,000 a month in collections pays staff on the 1st and 15th, about $31,000 per run. A large commercial payer changes its processing and slows from roughly 30 to roughly 55 days for six weeks.
| Date | Event | Amount | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 | Payroll | $31,000 out | $42,000 |
| Oct 1 to 14 | Collections, slower payer delayed | $33,000 in | $75,000 |
| Oct 5 | Rent and supplies | $18,000 out | $57,000 |
| Oct 15 | Payroll | $31,000 out | $26,000 |
| Oct 15 to 31 | Collections still delayed | $29,000 in | $55,000 |
| Nov 1 | Payroll | $31,000 out | $24,000 |
| Nov 5 | Rent and supplies | $18,000 out | $6,000 |
| Nov 15 | Payroll due, delayed claims not yet in | $31,000 out | −$25,000 |
| Nov 20 to 30 | Delayed claims arrive | $58,000 in | $33,000 |
The gap peaks at about $25,000 for roughly five days in mid-November. That is a short, defined need. A small draw on a line of credit, repaid when the delayed claims land, fits it far better than a large lump sum with months of payments.
All figures in worked examples are illustrations of the arithmetic, not offers or quotes. Real terms depend on your file and the funder.
If the answer to the second question is no, the practice needs a billing or cost fix, not funding.
In those cases, talking to your billing team or clearinghouse will do more than any funding product.
Short, repeating gaps suit a business line of credit, available on the first tier of our published requirements (three years in business, 650 credit and more). A one-time catch-up is often handled with working capital. For the wider view of practice funding, see the medical practice hub and the medical practice cash flow guide.
When you are ready, apply in about five minutes. Starting the application uses a soft credit pull.
No. A file is read from business bank statements and, at most, a summary aging report by payer type. Never send patient-level information.
Some funders offer receivable-based products, but most practice files we see are read on deposits. The amount depends mainly on your collections and existing obligations.
Compare your aging buckets month over month. If one payer explains the growth and the cause is known, it is likely temporary. If every payer is slowing, it is not.
For short, repeating gaps, usually yes, because you draw only what payroll needs and repay when claims land.
Same-day decision. Applying takes a few minutes and will not affect your credit score.
