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Factors To Consider When Renting Medical Equipment

By Lila Bryant


With the shrinking margins in the practice of medical services, the individuals and institutions engaged are becoming heavily concerned. This is, to a great extent, contributed by the high cost of investment, particularly in acquiring the sophisticated machines and tools entailed. The high initial investment is just out of proportion, coupled with their high rate of depreciation and obsolescence. Yet to be able to offer the most attractive and satisfactory services to clients, some tools are indispensable. It is due to this reason that there is a paradigm shift towards renting medical equipment.

It is possible to finance your medical facility 100 percent by renting tools. Some of the medical implements offered for rental include; X-ray and ultrasound machines, surgery items, MRI machines, computers, imaging diagnostic tools and EMR software. There are however some considerations to be made before settling on the rental decision.

To begin with, it is important to first of all carry out a lease vs. Buy analysis. The analysis enables you to be sure that you are engaging in the best financial decision. The process entails comparing the item prices across different major manufacturers, against lease quotes obtained from numerous medical tools leasing companies.

A good supply of information is important for a complete financial analysis. You should therefore access the most vital and pertinent financial information before embarking on the analysis. The data will be helpful in assessing the feasibility of the particular project, which can only be arrived at by estimating the cash flow of the investment. The incremental cash flow denotes the additional expenses and revenues accruing from the project. It is from this cash flow that one can know how a particular project will better the performance of the business, which is contrary to a rather unidirectional approach as to whether a particular project will generate profit on its own.

Although many businesses usually stop here, this should not be the case. You should further evaluate the data with other such analyses as break even, payback value and net present value. The long term and short term implications of a given investment can only be evidenced through this evaluation, including the payback period.

However, the cost of renting depends to a great extent on the rate of the lease and the periodic payments. As such, carry out and evaluation of the factors affecting the periodic payments and the lease rate. For example, the period of the lease has a profound impact on the terms and the amount of charges associated. Clearly spell out the duration of your lease.

Before renting, one should also consider the frequency of service (repair) and the type of the lease (capital or operating lease). For maintenance, consider the service schedule; the number of times and how convenient it is. Does it allow on-site servicing or must it be taken in for repair? Capital leases (with capital allowances and residual ownership) are more expensive compared to operating leases (are pure rental agreements).

Simply put, the decision process whether to rent or buy a medical equipment relies more on ascertaining which option will be more beneficial to your practice; the bottom line; evaluate how the investment fits with your general business plan, compare it to alternative opportunities in your practice and determine whether it will be profitable on its own while improving the present and future overall financial performance of your practice.




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