The tables, the X-ray and the front desk are paid for before the first adjustment is billed.

Where a chiropractic practice's cash goes

Our medical practices page covers claim timing across healthcare. This page is about chiropractic practices specifically.

Chiropractors who run their own practice also handle marketing, hiring staff and keeping records^[2]. The costs follow those jobs:

• Adjusting and treatment tables, often one per room.
• Imaging, such as an X-ray unit, and the room it needs.
• Buildout of treatment rooms, reception and accessible entrances.
• Staff: front desk, billing and chiropractic assistants.
• Marketing to fill a new provider's schedule.
• Practice software for scheduling, notes and billing.

Demand is growing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects chiropractor employment to grow 9 percent from 2025 to 2035^[2].

Cash-pay, insurance and Medicare timing

Medicare Part B covers only certain chiropractic services: adjustments of the spine by a chiropractor to correct a subluxation^[3]. Medicare doesn't cover other services or tests a chiropractor orders, including X-rays, massage therapy and acupuncture^[3].

So many practices run on three clocks at once: cash-pay visits paid at the time of service, commercial insurance claims, and Medicare claims for covered adjustments. The more of your revenue that comes through claims, the more payroll you carry before it is paid.

You have up to one calendar year from the date of service to file the Medicare claim^[1]. Every day you wait is a day longer you carry the payroll behind it. Clean, prompt billing is the first cash lever, before any financing.

Financing types that come up for chiropractors

• Equipment financing for tables, imaging and therapy equipment. ROK describes it as a loan or lease for almost any tangible business asset^[4].
• SBA loans, which lenders make and SBA backs. 7(a) loans can be used for machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures, working capital, real estate, and changes of ownership such as buying an existing practice^[5]. See SBA loans, and SBA 7(a) vs 504 if you are buying a building.
• A line of credit for payroll while claims are in process, paid down as payments post.
• A term loan for a one-time buildout or a second location, repaid on a fixed schedule.

With SBA's 7(a) program, you apply through a local lender and work with the lender, not with SBA^[5].

What ROK will want to see from a chiropractic practice

ROK's partner application lists at least 4 months in business and at least $10,000 in monthly gross sales^[6]. Lenders commonly look at credit history, cash flow, equity and collateral^[7]. Credit is one input among several. Have these ready:

• Twelve months of business bank statements.
• Your state chiropractic license and malpractice insurance.
• Your payer mix: cash-pay, commercial insurance and Medicare.
• Equipment quotes, and the lease and buildout bids for any new space.
• Current debts, including equipment notes.

ROK Financial and the lenders it matches you with make every funding decision.

Financing that fits this kind of gap

Which one fits your business, if any, is a conversation to have with ROK’s advisor once they have seen your file. These are the types that usually come up.

• Equipment financingFor tables, imaging and therapy equipment. ROK describes equipment financing as a loan or a lease for almost any tangible business asset^[4].How it works
• SBA loansFor buying a practice, a buildout or a building. 7(a) loans can cover changes of ownership, equipment and real estate^[5].How it works
• Business line of creditFor payroll while insurance and Medicare claims are in process, paid down as payments post.How it works

Related

• Medical financing overview