Options Beyond Purchasing: A Case For Hospital Equipment Rental

As of 2013, it was estimated that spending one day in a hospital in the United States costs $4,293. There's a smattering of reasons the cost of a hospital stay is so high, but less attention is paid to medical equipment to being one of those reasons.

Medical equipment takes up a vast amount of the space in hospitals. For good reason, too. Medical personnel and equipment work synergistically to improve the health of each patient, whether a newborn baby or an elderly patient. Without the two complementing each other there wouldn't be as many lives saved.

The trouble is cost. A hospital owns or rents over 35,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) of medical equipment at any one time, which racks up quite a hefty tab. No two hospitals are the same, but every hospital strives to provide the same quality of healthcare. When it comes to equipment, the budget can be a limiting factor. And while owning might seem like the best option, here are some ways hospitals’ medical equipment rentals are worthy investments for many.

Cost

Starting with the obvious, the cost of buying these supplies exponentially outweighs the cost of medical equipment rental. While many larger hospitals may have the budget and option to purchase their equipment, smaller hospitals may not share the same luxury. Medical equipment rentals offer a range of options for infusion pumps, ventilators and many other critical-care devices. If your hospital needs equipment and can't allocate the funds to purchase outright, renting allows flexibility that will give you peace of mind.

Maintenance

Hospital equipment rental providers don't merely drop off your order with an invoice, never to be seen again. They ensure the quality of their products by providing preventative maintenance and repairs of the equipment itself. Hospitals are busy places, and smaller hospitals have the disadvantage of less staff. With the biomed staff spread so thin a broken or malfunctioning machine may never get the time it needs to be fixed. There it will sit, nothing more than an incredibly expensive end table! Rental companies have technicians dedicated solely to keeping the rented equipment in excellent functioning order, ensuring the best safety available for your patients.

Managing Influx of Patients

A few months ago in an article listing the “5 Reasons to Rent Medical Equipment” the definition of a hospital census was explained as the number of patients occupying beds in the entire facility. During such times as flu season, the census is higher than other times throughout the year. This is a difficult challenge for hospitals to handle when there isn’t enough equipment for their patients. Using hospital equipment rental options allow the influx of patients to be handled with ease as the medical devices they need arrive quickly and patient-ready.

As of 2013, it was estimated that spending one day in a hospital in the United States costs

$4,293

The needs of patients and hospitals are impossible to lump into the same group, but the problems faced in day-to-day operations of hospitals are similar across the board. It's difficult to eliminate unnecessary cost, be well staffed, and enact quality patient care. It's a balancing act that can find hospitals being forced to make difficult decisions. Among these factors, hospital equipment rentals can help alleviate the stresses caused by the machines that are so valuable to medical professionals and the preservation of human lives. For more information on medical equipment rentals, give us a call.