Which is Better: Getting An Upgraded Machine or Keeping the Old One?

Although it may be counter intuitive, there is a time when it would be cheaper to get a newer or upgraded medical equipment than keep the older equipment you already have. These are just a few of the reason to give serious consideration to moving to a new machine.

* Down time – How often is the old machine not producing for you? A medical office should be run like a old time family farm. If something is not producing for you, you get rid of it. It an instrument is fragile due to age, it may be time to get upgrade.
* Accuracy – Has there been a change in the accuracy of the instrument? Bad clinical data can not only harm the patients, but cost the practice a great deal in malpractice and lawsuits.
* Supply costs – What is the difference between new supplies and the old ones the instrument needs? Take the case of an x-ray machine: the cost of film is fairly stable, given the number of manufactures out there. But with a chemical analyzer, there may be only a few places to get reagents and that might tie you down
* Repair costs – How many service calls have you had in the past six months? Each visit from a repairman costs, and that has to be considered into the expense of keeping the old instrument. Any new instrument will have service calls included as part of the warranty.
* Turnaround time – Has a clinical situation arose that means you need results faster? An older machine can mean a longer time to get those needed results. Has time become an asset you are looking to manage more closely? If so, that upgraded machine is beginning to look better and better.
* Daily maintenance – Are you doing additional maintenance for an additional cost? And be sure to consider time cost as well as monetary cost. Longer start up time can mean longer turn around time. And has that one simple part that you need to keep running become a regular thing?

Taking all of these into consideration, you should be able to make a decision between the old machine and a newer piece of medical equipment.