Federal update would help imaging centers, rad practices qualify for small business loans
The federal government is proposing changes that would help imaging centers and medical practices to qualify for loans and other programs from the Small Business Administration.
The SBA announced the planned updates on Thursday, noting it will raise monetary-based small business size standards for 263 industries. The list includes diagnostic imaging centers, medical laboratories, along with other outpatient care centers.
If the changes are finalized, the rule would expand eligibility for SBA programs such as general purpose and 504 long-term, fixed rate loans, the American College of Radiology reported Thursday.
This is part of a periodic five-year review, with increases to annual receipts-based standards across radiology and other industries. ACR noted the threshold for diagnostic imaging centers would rise approximately 15.79%, from $19 million to $22 million. Meanwhile, the figure for physician offices would jump 18.7%, from $16 million to $19 million. This will result in about 11,300 more businesses qualifying, according to the SBA.
The administration is gathering comments on the proposal until Oct. 21, with ACR encouraging members to weigh in ahead of its own submission.
Law firm GeenbergTraurig believes the proposed standard will benefit businesses close to exceeding the current revenue limits.
“However, the increased size standards may also broaden competition with larger businesses that are ineligible under current standards,” it said in an Aug. 28 blog post.
You can read the full proposal, published in the Federal Register on Aug. 22, here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.