Top ways to reduce the cost of medical imaging equipment!
Medical imaging equipment is worth its weight in gold. For healthcare facilities that are thinking of upgrading from film to digital, or having expenses issues in maintaining their existing machinery, a smart strategy will come as a lifesaver on your bill. It is evident that you will enjoy a wealth of benefits from your medical imaging equipment but doing so within your budget is a smart move.
Before we head on to give you some insights on how you can cut down the costs of medical imaging equipment, let’s get acquainted with the yearly costs on which you may be currently spending your hard-earned money.
Where are you spending excessively on your medical imaging equipment?
To have a clear brief on your spending related to the medical imaging equipment, here are some areas listed to get you a checklist of the expenses related to them.
- Technologist’s fee and time
- Cost of storing the printed films in a suitable environment
- The cost involved with film processor
- Chemical and film purchases
- Repair and service costs
- Capital cost and others.
Now that you are aware of the costs involved, you may have a clear view in your mind. Some of the above costs can be eliminated by switching to digital medical imaging equipment. However, other costs like maintenance and service costs, repair costs, and others are still on the list to be dealt with.
So here are the top ways how you can cut down your expenses on medical imaging equipment smartly without compromising its lifespan and working.
Smart ways to cut down cost of medical imaging equipment:
Capital cost
There is always a way to cut back on the capital cost involving medical imaging equipment.
Instead of buying new machinery, you always have an option of replacing it with a used & refurbished medical equipment that comes with almost the same features that you are looking for in your new machinery. These types of machinery utilize a mix of certified equipment and new equipment, balancing the capability and cost-constrained budgets for healthcare facilities.
Another option to lower the capital cost for your medical imaging equipment is by leasing or renting it. With frequent upgrades in the machinery launching every year in the market, buying new equipment is not a wise decision.
Instead, leasing the medical imaging equipment is worthy of consideration. You can choose between the two options based on the patient volume or the workflow to meet your healthcare facility’s demands. It would help you harness a greater return on investment in minimal time.
Pro Tip: Renting may cost you a bit more. It is recommended only for short term needs and low volume situations where making an equipment purchase doesn’t seem justifiable.
Service Cost: Maintenance and repair cost
Repair costs are indirect expenses for any healthcare facility. On the contrary, a maintenance fee is a necessity for medical imaging equipment that keeps it running for many years. Administrative costs like performance monitoring, contract negotiation, management, and others are also to be included in this list.
To summarise, service cost covers the cost of repair and maintenance, including the cost of a service contract that involves time and material costs. These costs are directly affected by pursuing the best practices and manufacturer protocols for your medical imaging equipment.
A robust cost focus is a good start but you need to get a more comprehensive view to yield large and long-term benefits. To do so, you can carry out in-house maintenance programs for your medical imaging machinery. If you are successful in completing the majority of service via in-house engineers, it will save you a lot of money.
However, if this program relies on OEMs and other providers, the maintenance cost can escalate quickly to the point where you may end up paying exponentially more for their program due to additional material and time costs.
Thus, the optimal solution for a healthcare facility is availing an independent service organisation (ISO) service from a qualified provider. It will provide you with a tailored partnership approach along with robust service at low cost.
The best ISO invests in technical training programs for engineers, quality processes and reliable parts supply chains which utilise OEM certified parts. They provide flexibility where the OEM engineer repairs your machinery with the same parts at much lower costs through an ISO.
Agreements
Choose from multi-year and multi-system agreement that will help you grab a great discount on the entire cost. Ensure that the agreements have included only those things that you wish to have for your medical imaging equipment. If you find any coverage option unnecessary, you can ask the provider to remove it from the agreement and can save some bucks from your budget.
Choose the best solution to save cost!
Every hospital and clinic has different requirements that affect the medical imaging equipment cost directly. Determining and implementing the right approach to your machinery can help you reduce the overall cost of your equipment and can provide you with substantial savings for your healthcare facility.
Utilise the above-mentioned ways recommended by experts and save a big chunk of your revenue to go into keeping your medical imaging equipment up and running.
We are pioneers in selling pre-owned and refurbished medical imaging equipment from reputed OEMs like Toshiba, Philips, Siemens, GE, and more. We can guide you to select the best medical equipment for your healthcare facility and also help you to protect your investment and provide options for saving maintenance and service costs on your pre-owned or refurbished medical equipment.
To get further information, please feel free to call us at +1 586 917 0245 or email us at sales@kbdentalconsulting.com.