Stretch your capital spend while maintaining quality and protection.
As supply chain disruptions and economic uncertainty continue to tighten capital budgets across healthcare facilities of all types and sizes, there are creative and reliable procurement strategies to stretch dollars for new and replacement capital equipment without sacrificing quality of care. The refurbished medical equipment industry has been around for decades and has continued to improve through specializations, International Quality Management Standards, and high-quality, after-market replacement parts. Refurbished medical equipment is a great alternative to consider during your procurement process. You can evaluate new and renewed equipment options to make educated decisions based on your team’s current needs and timelines to determine when refurbished equipment makes the most sense for your facility.
KEY CONSIDERATIONS
Are the Savings Opportunities?
- One of the most significant benefits of purchasing renewed or refurbished equipment is the cost savings. When considering a new purchase, ensure you are gathering new and renewed options to justify your recommendation. For example, do cost savings upfront offset a shorter warranty period upfront? Pay close attention to the structure of the quotes you receive to ensure your options can be compared “apples to apples.”
Reliability
- You may not be able to get a CarFax report on refurbished medical equipment like you can with used car purchases. Still, you can look for identifiers to ensure you work with a reliable vendor and product type. ISO 13485 Certifications are one of the top vital identifiers that tell you exactly who you are working with and if they are trustworthy and reliable. ISO 13485 is an international standard for medical devices that outlines the requirements for a quality management system specific to the medical device industry and requires yearly audits of a refurbisher’s facility. Outside of ISO certifications, high-quality refurbishers will stand by their product by providing warranties and extended service options depending on the product type. If the equipment you purchase has a software component, ensure you will have access to software updates as needed.
Availability
- A wide range of equipment types are available refurbished, but the supply of specific makes and models is always subject to the current market supply. If having standardized products across your facility is a priority, ensure consistent supply on the refurbished market or that the product is still being manufactured for future purchasing needs. Additionally, ask questions about the equipment’s end-of-life and future parts availability and continued service on particular makes and models.
TOP 3 EQUIPMENT TYPES TO PURCHASE REFURBISHED
- C-arms and Other Imaging Equipment
Imaging equipment is one of the most costly purchases for many facilities. Therefore, this is a key equipment category that can provide great savings ranging from ~20-60% compared to new, depending on the makes and models. Additionally, many ISO 13485 certified refurbishers specialize only in imaging equipment and can provide extensive warranty and extended service options (even glassware coverage!). This is very important as routine preventative maintenance can keep your machine up and running as long as possible. - OR Tables
Several makes and models of OR tables are available on the refurbished market, and they can provide savings of ~15-30%. With limited software requirements and preventive maintenance needed, this makes them a great piece of equipment to consider obtaining refurbished since the savings are present, parts support is readily available, and risk is extremely low. - Defibrillators
While the hope is that defibrillators never have to be used, they are a critical piece of equipment to have on hand. They are primarily purchased during new builds, rather than being part of general equipment replacements or upgrades. Savings range from ~15-35% and there is a massive supply with many makes/models, service, parts, and related disposables.
Add Refurbished Equipment to Your Fleet
Although these are great options to consider purchasing refurbished, there are plenty of other equipment types available to compare versus new. If you’re executing your 2024 capital budget and want to learn how to blend new and refurbished equipment options in your quoting process, reach out to the HANDLE team to put our 100+ years of experience in Capital Medical Equipment to work.
