Practice startup costs — honest ranges, no fake precision.
What launching a private medical practice actually costs in 2026, broken into the four buckets every pro forma needs.
Ranges are wide on purpose — your specialty, market, and ambition all move the numbers. When you want a real number for your specific situation, that's what a consultation is for.
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How much does it cost to start a medical practice?
The short answer: plan for $50k–$250k+ in capital expenses, $5k–$50k in one-time professional fees, and $15k–$40k per month of operating costs before revenue arrives — plus a working-capital reserve of at least six months. A solo behavioral health practice sits at the bottom of every range; a procedure-heavy specialty clinic with imaging sits at the top. The four buckets below are what your pro forma needs to price.
- · Office build-out (paint, furniture, exam tables, signage) — $20k–$150k
- · Medical equipment (specialty-dependent) — $10k–$100k+
- · Office IT (computers, phones, printers, networking) — $5k–$20k
- · Lease deposits + first/last month — $10k–$40k
- · Rent — $3k–$15k/mo (varies wildly by market)
- · EHR + Practice Management — $300–$1,500/mo
- · Clearinghouse + billing software — $200–$800/mo
- · Telephony + internet — $200–$600/mo
- · Malpractice insurance — $5k–$30k/year, often paid quarterly
- · Staff salaries — $8k–$25k/mo for 1–3 FTE
- · Marketing — $1k–$5k/mo at launch
- · Healthcare attorney (entity, leases, employment) — $3k–$15k
- · CPA setup + bookkeeping start — $1k–$5k
- · Credentialing service or in-house — $1k–$3k per provider, per payer
- · Website + brand — $5k–$25k for real custom build
- · HIPAA program + risk analysis — $2k–$8k
- · Credentialing lag means you bill but get paid late. Cushion for it.
- · Most practices reach break-even months 7–12, not months 3–4.
- · Underestimating this reserve is the most common reason new practices stall.
Even after you open, you'll bill insurance for 30–60 days before payments arrive. Credentialing delays can extend the gap by another 60–120 days for some payers. Plan your reserve for the worst-case version of this timeline, not the best case.
The honest part most calculators skip.
Online calculators output a single number. Reality is a spread. A solo therapist launching in a low-cost market with no equipment needs is at the bottom of every range. An orthopedist opening a full clinic with imaging is at the top. Most physicians land somewhere in between — but their pro forma usually doesn't reflect that range honestly.
We've helped enough practices launch to know which line items new operators undercount, which they overcount, and where the surprises usually hide. If you want help pressure-testing your numbers before you sign a lease or take a loan, that's exactly what we do in a consultation.
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Free resources are a starting point. When you want a real plan for your specific situation — specialty, state, target open date — the consultation is where that happens.
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