---
title: "Deep Dive: Practice Financing"
description: The dynamics of practice financing - money clinicians use to open, buy, equip and run a practice - look different among medical, dental, and vet clinics.
image: https://finmedpartners.com/hubfs/Live%20Oak%20Bank%20-%20Dental.png
---

[![FinMed Partners-1](https://finmedpartners.com/hs-fs/hubfs/FinMed%20Partners-1.png?width=200&height=65&name=FinMed%20Partners-1.png "FinMed Partners-1")](https://finmedpartners.com/)

- [About](https://finmedpartners.com/about)
- [Services](https://finmedpartners.com/services)
- [Team](https://finmedpartners.com/team)
- [Insights](https://finmedpartners.com/insights)
- [Blog](https://finmedpartners.com/blog)
- [HFF 2026](https://finmedpartners.com/hff)

[CONTACT US](https://finmedpartners.com/contact-us)

## Search

# Deep Dive: Practice Financing

![](https://finmedpartners.com/hubfs/Live%20Oak%20Bank%20-%20Dental.png)

![ David Stievater, Partner](https://finmedpartners.com/hubfs/David%20S%20-%20Sep%202023.jpeg)

[David Stievater, Partner](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/author/david-stievater-partner)

 October 15, 2026

Share : <https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?https://finmedpartners.com/blog/deep-dive-practice-financing> [mailto:?subject=Check+out+this+blog+post%3A+Deep+Dive%3A+Practice+Financing&body=I+thought+you+might+enjoy+this+blog+post%3A+https%3A%2F%2Ffinmedpartners.com%2Fblog%2Fdeep-dive-practice-financing](mailto:?subject=Check+out+this+blog+post%3A+Deep+Dive%3A+Practice+Financing&body=I+thought+you+might+enjoy+this+blog+post%3A+https%3A%2F%2Ffinmedpartners.com%2Fblog%2Fdeep-dive-practice-financing)

Practice financing is the money clinicians use to open, buy, equip and run a practice. That covers startup loans, working capital to cover slow insurance payments, acquisition loans, equipment financing and mortgages on the building. The dynamics of practice financing look very different among independent medical, dental, and veterinary clinics.

Specialty Breakdown

Medical groups have experienced the most consolidation. By 2024, the AMA estimated that only 42% of physicians worked in private practice (down from 60% in 2012). Other sources cite more extreme numbers – Avalere/ Physicians Advocacy Institute data indicates that by January 2026, 82% of U.S. physicians worked for a hospital or another corporate employer, including insurers and private equity. Fewer owners means fewer acquisition loans, so lenders serving medical groups lean toward working capital that covers reimbursement gaps, and equipment and real estate loans.

Dentistry has consolidated far less. About 73% of dentists still own their practice according to the ADA. Slower buying keeps independent owners, and associates who want to become owners, in the market for loans. Veterinary medicine has more than 30,000 practices. Mars (Banfield, VCA, BluePearl) and private equity platforms have built large chains especially in specialty and emergency care, but AVMA data suggest about 65% of general practices are still independent. With 39% of veterinarians 55 or older, many independent practices will change hands in the next decade, and the buyers will need financing.

Overall, we estimate that physicians own about 90,000 practices, the dental market counts roughly 100,000 independent offices, and veterinary care has 19,000 independent general practices.

**Bank Lending Anchors the Market**

Banks still anchor the big, long-term loans. SBA 7(a) loans, up to $5 million with as little as 10% down, are the workhorse for acquisitions. Live Oak Bank, which started as a veterinary lender, competes with big national and super regional banks such as Bank of America Practice Solutions, Huntington, PNC and U.S. Bank. In May 2026 U.S. Bank launched a startup loan for dental and veterinary practices supported by more than 100 dedicated healthcare bankers. Healthcare drew roughly $3.2 billion in SBA approvals in fiscal 2024, about 9% of volume, by one lender’s analysis (Crestmont Capital).

Role of Fintechs

Specialists compete on speed and industry knowledge. Provide, the lending fintech Fifth Third Bank bought in 2021, aims squarely at dentists and vets (“people keep caring for their teeth and their pets even when money gets tight”). Venture money is here too. Panacea Financial raised $62 million in a Series B round in 2025 and in June 2026 the American Association of Orthodontists endorsed it for member loans. Panacea lends through Primis Bank, which held $583 million of its loans at mid-year (includes some non-practice lending). The model is a classic fintech in front and bank charter behind. Lenders serve the consolidators too: Live Oak has a sponsor-finance team for dental roll-ups.

Entry of Payments Companies

Square, Stripe and Adyen process card payments, which gives them a live view of a merchant’s sales that banks do not have unless they own a processor (U.S. Bank and JP Morgan Chase). Square underwrites on real-time transaction data, has originated more than $32 billion in loans since 2014, and averages a loan of nearly $10,000, and markets its payment and scheduling tools to dentists, optometrists and dermatologists. Stripe Capital looks at a business’ payment volume and history on Stripe to make lending offers. Adyen Capital works through software platforms, offers $500 to $50,000 on terms up to nine months, and takes the credit risk itself.

These loans are small and short, so they compete for working capital, not acquisitions or real estate. A flat fee can also add up to more than a bank rate when a practice repays quickly. The bigger point is who holds the customer. The company that processes a practice’s payments sees its cash flow first and can make an offer before a banker knows the practice exists.

Rise of Embedded Finance

Access to capital to fund different financing needs is spreading to the practice management (PM) software used by medical groups, dental offices, and vet clinics. The payment companies mentioned previously are often embedded natively into PM systems, including lending options. Parafin, which mostly operates outside healthcare but does have Mindbody as a customer, underwrites on sales history and delivers offers inside software platforms. Weave, the communications and payments software vendor recently acquired by Francisco Partners, signed a multi-year deal with Stripe in 2023 to process payments for its thousands of U.S. healthcare practices and added Stripe Capital as an embedded financing option.

Other Ecosystem Partners

Distributors and software vendors are also becoming channels for practice loans. Henry Schein’s medical finance arm offers working capital, equipment and real estate loans through third-party lenders, and Covetrus, the animal-health distributor and practice-software company, refers vet practices to partner lenders for equipment and project financing.

The End Game 

As fintechs continue to pressure traditional lenders in the practice financing space, banks are already pushing back. The Chief Enterprise Payments Office for Huntington Bank has been very public in saying "We won't cede any ground” to fintechs, adding "there's a tremendous opportunity in embedding banking with payments." (American Banker) Expect bank investment in third-party technology, integration with software platforms, and addition of healthcare sales teams to ramp up in the next couple of years. But at the same time, the payments companies and other fintechs are not backing down and will be pushing harder than ever to win sticky relationships with platforms both in healthcare and other industries.

For a practice owner, the first capital offer may now come from the payments or software vendor before a banker calls. The vendor already sees the practice’s collections, so it can pre-approve without a loan application. For banks and specialty lenders the choice is to supply the capital behind these platforms, as Primis does for Panacea, or to compete with them for the customer. Small working-capital advances suit this model easily. Acquisition and real estate loans still call for bank underwriting.

TAGS [#Healthcare Provider](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/tag/healthcare-provider) [#Banks & Fintechs](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/tag/banks-fintechs) [#Payment Trends](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/tag/payment-trends) [#Dental Market](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/tag/dental-market)

Share : <https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?https://finmedpartners.com/blog/deep-dive-practice-financing> [mailto:?subject=Check+out+this+blog+post%3A+Deep+Dive%3A+Practice+Financing&body=I+thought+you+might+enjoy+this+blog+post%3A+https%3A%2F%2Ffinmedpartners.com%2Fblog%2Fdeep-dive-practice-financing](mailto:?subject=Check+out+this+blog+post%3A+Deep+Dive%3A+Practice+Financing&body=I+thought+you+might+enjoy+this+blog+post%3A+https%3A%2F%2Ffinmedpartners.com%2Fblog%2Fdeep-dive-practice-financing)

## Our Blog

[View All](https://finmedpartners.com/blog)

[![](https://finmedpartners.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Emma%20Loftus-1.png?width=352&name=Emma%20Loftus-1.png)](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/ceo-chat-pnc-bank-emma-loftus)

### [CEO Chat: PNC Bank (Emma Loftus)](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/ceo-chat-pnc-bank-emma-loftus)

![Emma Loftus, EVP, Head of Treasury Management](https://finmedpartners.com/hubfs/Emma%20Loftus%20avatar.png)

[Emma Loftus, EVP, Head of Treasury Management](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/author/emma-loftus-evp-head-of-treasury-management)

 PNC Treasury Management helps simplify financial operations so healthcare providers can focus more time, capital and resources on delivering patient care.

[![](https://finmedpartners.com/hs-fs/hubfs/PDS%20Health%20and%20Epic.png?width=352&name=PDS%20Health%20and%20Epic.png)](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/epic-announces-savvy-for-mychart-payments)

### [Epic announces Savvy for MyChart payments](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/epic-announces-savvy-for-mychart-payments)

![David Stievater, Partner](https://finmedpartners.com/hubfs/David%20S%20-%20Sep%202023.jpeg)

[David Stievater, Partner](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/author/david-stievater-partner)

 Epic MyChart, the dominant patient portal in hospitals, is planning its own native payments solution on Fiserv's platform

[![](https://finmedpartners.com/hs-fs/hubfs/PDS%20Health%20and%20Epic.png?width=352&name=PDS%20Health%20and%20Epic.png)](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/epic-building-beachhead-in-dental-market)

### [Epic building beachhead in dental market](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/epic-building-beachhead-in-dental-market)

![David Stievater, Partner](https://finmedpartners.com/hubfs/David%20S%20-%20Sep%202023.jpeg)

[David Stievater, Partner](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/author/david-stievater-partner)

 Epic, the dominant health IT platform for mid-size and large healthcare organizations in the U.S., now has a growing dental footprint.

[![](https://finmedpartners.com/hs-fs/hubfs/PNC%20-%20Michael%20Thomas%20Video-1.png?width=352&name=PNC%20-%20Michael%20Thomas%20Video-1.png)](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/ceo-chat-pnc-bank-michael-thomas)

### [CEO Chat: PNC Bank (Michael Thomas)](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/ceo-chat-pnc-bank-michael-thomas)

![Michael Thomas, EVP, Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking](https://finmedpartners.com/hubfs/MichaelThomas.jpeg)

[Michael Thomas, EVP, Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/author/michael-thomas-evp-head-of-corporate-institutional-banking)

 We’ve been developing solutions specifically for the healthcare industry for more than 30 years.

[![](https://finmedpartners.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Tyler%20Stafford%20cropped.png?width=352&name=Tyler%20Stafford%20cropped.png)](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/ceo-chat-panacea-financial)

### [CEO Chat: Panacea Financial](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/ceo-chat-panacea-financial)

![Tyler Stafford, CEO & Co-Founder](https://finmedpartners.com/hubfs/Tyler%20Stafford%20square.png)

[Tyler Stafford, CEO & Co-Founder](https://finmedpartners.com/blog/author/tyler-stafford-ceo-co-founder)

 We founded Panacea to build a financial platform designed specifically for doctors — from medical school through residency, practice ownership, and beyond.

# The intersection of healthcare and payments

We are keeping tabs on what is happening in healthcare payments. Let us do the work so that you don't have to. Sign up for our weekly newsletter for synthesized insights into the latest news in this space.

[Subscribe Now](https://finmedpartners.com/newsletter-sign-up)

![small-glyph](https://finmedpartners.com/hs-fs/hubfs/small-glyph.png?width=32&height=33&name=small-glyph.png) FinMed Partners LLC

- © FinMed Partners LLC. All rights reserved

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "David Stievater, Partner",
    "url" : "https://finmedpartners.com/blog/author/david-stievater-partner"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2026-10-16T03:21:59.508Z",
  "datePublished" : "2026-10-16T03:21:59.000Z",
  "headline" : "Deep Dive: Practice Financing",
  "image" : [ "https://finmedpartners.com/hubfs/Live%20Oak%20Bank%20-%20Dental.png" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://finmedpartners.com/blog/deep-dive-practice-financing",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://finmedpartners.com/hubfs/FinMed%20Partners.svg"
    },
    "name" : "FinMed Partners"
  }
}
```