There were 69 physician offices with paid staff in Lauderdale County, AL in 2023. Practices carry payroll while insurance claims are processed and plan for equipment and space. This page sets out the county's counts, then covers doctor practice loans, clinic equipment, buying a practice and the records partners read.
At a glance
- Employer establishments
69 employer locations countywide (CBP 2023)
- Fewer than five employees
52.2% of the county's 69 (CBP 2023)
- Annual payroll
$54.8 million across 691 employees (CBP 2023)
- Without paid employees
79 counted with no payroll (NES 2024)
Physician Office Counts for Lauderdale County, AL
Among offices of physicians (NAICS 6211), Lauderdale County, AL had 69 employer establishments in 2023 with 691 paid employees and $54.8 million in annual payroll; 36 of them, or 52.2%, had fewer than five employees, and 56 used a ZIP 35630 address (County Business Patterns and ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). That is about 10.0 employees per establishment and about $79,281 of payroll per employee (our arithmetic).
Nonemployer Statistics, a separate program that uses NAICS 2022 codes, counted 79 businesses without paid employees in offices of physicians (NAICS 2022 6211) in the county in 2024, with $6.4 million in combined receipts, or about $81,013 each (our arithmetic). The two programs count different businesses and are not added together here.
Medical Practice Funding: When It Fits in Florence, AL
A practice's income arrives in two streams: patient payments at the visit and insurance payments weeks later. Payroll and rent do not wait for the second stream. When claims slow down or a payer changes its process, the gap widens. Working capital bridges a known gap; a line of credit covers one that keeps returning.
Doctor Practice Loan: What Lauderdale County, AL Owners Compare
| The cost | Funding type to compare | What a partner reads |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll while claims are pending | Working capital or a line | Claims aging and deposits |
| Imaging, exam or lab equipment | Equipment financing | The quote |
| Buying into or buying out a practice | Term loan | The practice's collections |
| A new office build-out | Term loan plus equipment financing | The plan and the lease |
Medical Clinic Loans: What Lauderdale County, AL Owners Compare
Clinic equipment ranges from exam tables to imaging systems, and equipment financing ties the money to the item. Partners read the quote and how the equipment adds to collections.
Illustration only, invented figures: a $65,000 ultrasound unit financed at 9% a year over 60 months costs about $1,349 a month, about $80,958 in total. If each scan the practice bills collects $150, about 9 scans a month cover the payment (our arithmetic on invented figures).
Physician Practice Loans: What Partners Review in Florence, AL
- Collections by month and by payer, from the practice management system
- Claims aging: what insurers owe and for how long
- Business bank statements
- Tax returns for the practice and its owners
- Quotes for equipment or the build-out budget
Physician Business Loans: What Partners Review in Florence, AL
Buying a practice or a partner's share is a different request: the partner reads the practice's collections history, its payer mix and the purchase agreement, and asks how the buyer's own income fits. A term loan can carry the price.
Medical Practice Lending Across Lauderdale County, AL
Physician offices sit inside a larger health care sector: Lauderdale County, AL had 267 health care and social assistance employers in 2023, with $284.1 million in payroll, the largest payroll of any sector (CBP 2023). The offices of physicians counted here are 25.8% of those health care employers (our arithmetic).
Health Care Employers by Shoals ZIP, 2023
| ZIP (USPS name) | Health care and social assistance employers | Share with fewer than 5 employees |
|---|---|---|
| 35630 (Florence, AL) | 206 | 41.3% |
| 35661 (Muscle Shoals, AL) | 65 | 44.6% |
| 35660 (Sheffield, AL) | 38 | 31.6% |
| 35674 (Tuscumbia, AL) | 27 | 44.4% |
| 35645 (Killen, AL) | 13 | 23.1% |
ZIP 35630 held 56 of the county's 69 physician offices with employees, or 81.2% (our arithmetic; ZBP and CBP 2023). Sector 62 also includes dentists, therapists, home health and child care, so the ZIP counts run well above physician offices alone.
A Claims Gap Worked Through for a Florence, AL Practice
Illustration only, invented figures: a practice bills $120,000 a month, collects $30,000 at the visit and waits about 45 days for the $90,000 insurers pay. A payer's processing change pushes that to 75 days, so about $90,000 of collections slips a month later than planned. Payroll and rent of $70,000 still fall due. A $70,000 draw on a line at 11% a year for one month costs about $642 in interest, paid down once the delayed claims arrive.
Questions a Partner May Ask a Medical Practice
- What share of collections comes from each major payer?
- How many days does a typical claim take to pay?
- Are any providers leaving or joining the practice?
- Is the office space leased or owned, and for how long?
Practices Nearby in the Health Care Group
Dental offices and chiropractic, therapy and optometry practices have their own pages with their own counts: see dental practice loans in Lauderdale County, AL and chiropractic and therapy practices.
By Coastspring Funding Group · Updated