SBA 7(a) Medical Office Feasibility Study in Tennessee

A cell close to the national class

Tennessee's physician offices under SBA 7(a) resemble the national class. The median loan of $255,200 is 1.02x the typical loan for the class nationwide, and the middle band runs from $154,800 to $706,725. None of the 64 loans carries a franchise tie. The page's usefulness lies in specifics: its lenders, counties and trend. SBA recorded $49.5 million. Tennessee is 24th among states by count, and the class is tenth of 39 within the state.

Republic Bank & Trust Company holds 8 loans worth $5.1 million. Pinnacle Bank holds 7 worth $18.5 million, an average several times larger. Newtek Bank, National Association holds 5 worth $917,500. SBA lists these holdings; they imply nothing about any bank's standards for physician practices.

Geography and years

Davidson County has 10 loans, Knox 8, Shelby 7, Montgomery and Williamson 6 each, Wilson 5 and Sumner 4. Approvals were 1 in FY2018, 11 in FY2022 with $11.5 million, 8 in FY2024 with $13.9 million, and 12 in FY2026 with $7.6 million.

Cancellation after approval had a floor of 12.8% for loans approved through FY2024, and the ceiling is identical. No Tennessee charge-off rate is shown by Loan Analytics, because the early funded group falls under the 30-loan minimum; that blank is not a zero.

What a Tennessee practice study must test

A physician's practice earns from visits and procedures, so the study should state the panel, the schedule and the collections per visit, and how payer contracts shape them. For a startup, show how long it takes to fill the calendar and how the first months of payroll are funded before insurers pay. For a purchase, test patient retention after the transition, the status of the departing doctor, and what part of the price is goodwill. Referral relationships, hospital privileges and the supply of competing practices in the submarket need evidence, not assertion. The budget should itemise leasehold work, medical equipment and software, and the study should show coverage of the payment at lower volume, with a case in which a physician is absent for a period. An appraisal of any real estate and of the practice's value must agree with the price. The study should date the first collections realistically and fund the gap between the first patient and the first payment.