Healthcare MCA Leads

How do independent practices actually get paid?

Most human-health practices get paid twice for each visit: a small amount from the patient at the front desk and a larger amount from an insurer weeks later. The copay or deductible goes on a card. The insurer's payment arrives as an electronic funds transfer to the practice's bank account, after the claim has been coded, submitted, reviewed and processed.

Even Medicare, which pays clean claims on a predictable schedule, builds in a wait. Under the CMS Medicare Claims Processing Manual, the payment floor means a clean electronic claim cannot be paid before the 14th day after it is received, and a paper claim not before the 29th day. Commercial payers and Medicare Advantage plans set their own timelines, and any claim that is denied or needs records takes longer.

Veterinary practices work differently. Pet owners typically pay the clinic in full at checkout, usually by card, and any pet insurance reimbursement goes to the owner. That makes a vet clinic look more like a retail business from a funder's point of view, with daily card batches instead of insurance transfers.

Why do healthy practices run short of cash?

Practices run short because their costs are immediate and their largest payments are delayed. Payroll for nurses, hygienists, assistants and front-desk staff is due every two weeks regardless of when claims pay. Supplies, rent and malpractice premiums follow their own calendar.

• Equipment purchases and repairs. Digital X-ray, CBCT scanners, dental chairs, ultrasound units, lasers, surgical tables and lab analyzers are expensive and hard to work without.
• Adding a provider. A new associate dentist or physician assistant may take months to credential with insurers, so the practice pays the salary before their billing pays back.
• Denials and rework. A batch of denied claims can delay a large share of a month's revenue.
• Buildouts and second locations. Plumbing for dental operatories or a surgical suite adds up quickly.
• Ownership pressure. Independent owners compete with groups. The American Dental Association reports that 16.1 percent of U.S. dentists were affiliated with a dental support organization in 2024, and independent owners often invest to stay competitive.

How should funders underwrite each type of practice?

Underwrite each practice type on its own revenue pattern rather than treating healthcare as one sector. The table summarizes the differences buyers see most often.

Two quirks deserve extra attention. First, chiropractors and some medical practices treat accident patients under a lien or letter of protection, meaning the practice is paid only when the injury case settles, sometimes many months later. Those receivables are real but slow, so underwriters lean on deposits that have already arrived. Second, a practice that depends on one or two payers for most of its revenue faces concentration risk if a contract changes.

You never need patient records to underwrite an advance. Bank statements, processing statements and practice-level reports such as an aging summary are enough, and keeping patient data out of the file is simply good practice.

Which filters suit healthcare MCA leads?

Revenue and time in business carry the most weight, because practices with a few years of payer history show stable deposits. Use these as your baseline:

1. Monthly revenue: set a floor that reflects the size of practice your funders prefer. Multi-provider practices support larger advances.
2. Time in business: a new practice still building its patient base and credentialing may not fit; a one- or two-year floor removes most start-ups.
3. Advance amount: imaging and buildouts sit at the higher end, supplies and staffing at the lower end.
4. Credit score range: practice owners often have strong personal credit, but widen the range if your partners focus on cash flow.
5. State: limit delivery to states where you and your funders work.

When you place the order, say which practice types you want. A funder comfortable with veterinary clinics may not want personal injury chiropractic, and the campaign can be shaped either way. The guide for funders covers how to set up a sector-specific campaign.

Lead type is worth thinking about too. Equipment requests are usually planned weeks ahead, which suits aged leads, while a practice short on payroll because a payer delayed a batch of claims needs a fast answer, which suits real-time leads.

How do you reach a busy practice owner?

Reach the owner through the office manager and keep the first call short and professional. Doctors and dentists are with patients most of the day. The office manager often handles finances and can tell you when the owner is free, usually around lunch or after the last appointment.

• Speak to the claim cycle. "You are waiting on insurance but payroll is next week" describes the problem in their language.
• Use the equipment angle. Ask what the capital is for. New technology that adds procedures is a strong use of funds.
• Explain the product precisely. An advance is a sale of part of the practice's future receivables to the funder, not borrowed money, and its cost is expressed as a factor rate and total payback.
• Keep documents simple. Bank statements, a processing statement if they take cards, and ID usually start the file.

Because practice owners are hard to catch, live transfers can work well: the owner is already on the line when the call reaches you. Our conversion playbook covers follow-up cadences for hard-to-reach merchants.