Friday, 25 July 2014

Factors To Consider When Renting Medical Equipment

By Paulette Mason


The medical field is faced with the concern of the declining levels of margin. This can be attributed to the high initial cost incurred in acquiring the equipment. The situation is even aggravated by the lack of regulation in the market in terms of price and quality. Nevertheless, the practitioners have to equip their facilities with the state of the art machines if they have to realize anything worthwhile. The hassle can however be minimized by carrying out a wise and informed decision. This article, therefore, takes you through some insights on renting medical equipment.

The first factor worth your concern is the duration of the rental period. This length of time will determine the payments to be made for the services. When the device is needed for quite a long time, it is ideal to buy it out. For short periods, it goes a long way to rent the implement. It is absurd to incur high investment cost on a machine that will be used less often.

It is also necessary to compare the upfront costs against monthly payments. The method of acquiring a medical device is dictated by your financial muscles at the instant. For businesses with low cash at hand, but having continuous cash flow, renting becomes the best option. Making monthly payments will leave the enterprise with some operating cash. However, for a firm with ample cash at hand, buying is the ideal and cheapest option. The monthly remittances vary from one dealer to another.

In addition, consider the cost of maintenance. All medical equipment requires some repair and maintenance during its useful period. Numerous rental agreements retain the responsibility of undertaking maintenance with the rental company. As such, you will not shoulder the burden of extra costs. However, after buying the gadget, the cost of repairs and maintenance transfers to you. The cost can be highly expensive, according to the equipment. For devices requiring high maintenance costs, renting is a more convenient acquisition.

The other vital factor of concern is the frequency of use. While some medical tools are used on more often, others are required on rare occasions. In case you require specific gadget frequently, it is recommended to invest in it. This is particularly due to the fact that such machines will soon pay themselves off, making the investment valuable. Those that are used on rare occasions are better rented.

Whether to buy or rent an implement is also influenced by the resale value. The medical field is one of the most rapidly changing professions in terms of technology. New machines come with new features, rendering the current ones obsolete and ineffective. This calls for continuous upgrading of the facility, which may mean selling the old machine. Having equipment with good resale value facilitates obtaining a new one at a better rate. A machine with low resale value will be hard to sell.

Nevertheless, be sure to opt for nothing less than convenience. Both methods have different implications to different practitioners. While renting is fast and friendly to the flow of cash, buying brings with it a sense of freedom and peace of mind. With rental agreement, you can access advanced equipment that may not be possible to buy.

Simply put, a carefully analyzed and reached at decision is health as far as financial position and health of the business is concerned. Check out the above factors when making the decision.




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