Insuring Your Medical Equipment

Once you have picked your medical equipment out, installed it, and have it operational, your job is not over. Now you have to insure your equipment against any long term damage. You can purchase insurance that will pay for damage to or even the replacement of your medical equipment, but you must carefully consider how much you want to spend and what you want and need the insurance to cover.

The first thing to consider is whether or not your machine is new enough to be under warranty. In that case, all insurance questions may be moot. Check the language of the warranty. Look for the terms “replacement cost” or “extreme damage.” There should be a clause about replacement in the event of a disaster – fire, flood, and the like. The terms should be fairly straight forward. Be sure to check to see if the contract refers to another policy or demands that you take out additional insurance.

If it does, or if the manufacturer can’t or won’t give terms on replacement, it is time to get an insurance agent. Call them and schedule a visit. When they come by, go over your existing policy. See if it covers the costs of replacement for the equipment in question, in addition to any other losses you may sustain. Most insurance policies have maximum limits; make sure your insurance coverage actually covers everything you need replaced.

When discussing your needs with an insurance agent, be sure to mention whether or not the medical equipment is vital to the operation of the business. This will be a key phrase that the agent can use to write the policy and find a carrier to underwrite the cost. They will need the amount of the replacement cost. That is very different from the amount that you paid for the instrument, especially if you bought it used. See what the vendors will charge for a new piece of equipment similar to the one that you have. That is the price to quote to the insurance agent.

Be sure that the terms are also appropriate for your area. A clause including damage from earthquakes might not be so vital in an area that has not experiences a quake in living memory, but in Southern California, it would definitely be considered essential.

Insuring you instrumentation is an important concern. It can be the difference between recovery from a disaster and shutting down an ongoing medical concern.