Jackson, WY physician and specialty offices can finance diagnostic equipment through equipment financing, cover a move to a larger suite with a term loan, and carry supply orders on a revolving line. Each one is worked through with invented figures. Heathfield’s part is the intake; any offer, and its terms, come from a funding partner.
An invented ultrasound and ECG cart package over 48 and 60 months, a suite move measured against the cash reserve, a supply-order draw, and the one-time costs of adding a clinician. Prices and costs are invented; the payroll figure is from County Business Patterns.
An Ultrasound Unit and an ECG Cart Financed Apart From the Practice Software
Suppose an invented specialty office in Jackson, WY prices a point-of-care ultrasound unit at $38,750 and an ECG cart at $6,480. Both are serial-numbered devices with a resale market, so the $45,230 pair suits equipment financing, where the devices themselves can secure the agreement.
| Schedule | Each payment | Total of payments | Interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48 months | $1,150.41 | $55,219.68 | $9,989.68 |
| 60 months | $964.35 | $57,861.00 | $12,631.00 |
In this invented package, spreading the devices over five years instead of four trims $186.06 from each month’s bill, at a price of $2,641.32 in extra interest. The office’s practice software, a $9,120 license and setup fee in this example, is a different kind of purchase: there is no device to take back or resell, so a funding partner may not put it on the same agreement. A short term loan or cash on hand can carry the software while the devices sit on equipment financing.
Moving to a Larger Suite While Keeping Three Months of Costs in Reserve
A practice that outgrows its suite faces a bill that has nothing to do with equipment. In the invented case, the office keeps $64,000 in reserve against monthly operating costs of $21,300, a cushion of 3.0 months. The move itself, in invented figures, costs:
- movers, plus recalibration of the moved devices: $3,870
- a security deposit on the new suite: $11,400
- one month of overlapping rent while both suites are leased: $5,700
- notices to patients about the new address: $640
The four invented items come to $21,610. Paid from the reserve, they would leave $42,390, or 2.0 months of costs. On a term loan at an invented 12.05% over 18 months instead, they cost $1,318.32 a month; the 18 payments total $23,729.76, which is $2,119.76 more than paying cash. The practice weighs that interest against keeping a full extra month in reserve. Any work on the new suite itself stays outside this site.
Vaccine and Supply Orders on a Revolving Line, Cleared in Seven Weeks
Ordering vaccines and supplies in larger lots pulls cash forward: the invoice is due long before the visits that use the stock are paid for. In this invented case a Teton County, WY office draws $7,640 on a line of credit for one such order and clears the draw from collections 49 days later. At 13.35% a year, simple interest, the draw costs $136.92 ($7,640 × 0.1335 × 49 ÷ 365).
Once the draw is cleared, the line is open again for the next order. That suits a cost that comes back again and again. A single large purchase, such as the device package, belongs on a fixed schedule instead, so the line stays available for the orders it was opened for.
Adding a Clinician: One-Time Costs Kept Apart From the Monthly Salary
A new physician or physician assistant brings two kinds of cost. The salary repeats every month and belongs in the operating budget, met from the revenue the new clinician’s visits bring in. The one-time costs are the part a funding request can carry:
- a recruiting or placement fee, if the office uses a search firm
- an exam-room equipment set for the new clinician’s rooms
- a laptop, a dictation setup and added software seats
- a second label printer and a check-in tablet for the front desk
Equipment for the new rooms fits equipment financing; the fee and setup costs fit a working capital loan or a line draw. For scale, County Business Patterns reported about $15.8 million in 2023 annual payroll across the 35 offices of physicians (NAICS 6211) in Teton County, WY. The medical practices page works an exam-room package for two rooms and a locum physician’s invoice, and the blog lists the other posts.
By Heathfield Commercial Capital · Updated
