Should You Buy or Lease MRI Machine?

In the United States, medical professionals carry out approximately 30 million MRI scans on a yearly basis.

Considering this, it’s imperative to have safe, reliable, and efficient MRI machines in hospitals.

How you go about acquiring these MRI machines is worth carefully considering.

Should you purchase an MRI machine outright? Or, do the benefits of MRI machine leasing outweigh the drawbacks? Read on to discover everything you need to know.

What is an MRI machine?

MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. This is a type of medical imaging technique that utilizes computer-generated radio waves and a magnetic field to generate detailed images of the tissues and organs in the patient’s body.

The majority of MRI machines are sizable, tube-shaped magnets. When a person lies inside the machine, the magnetic field will temporarily realign water molecules in the patient’s body.

Radio waves make these aligned atoms generate faint signals, which are used for creating cross-sectional MRI images. These machines can also create 3D images, which you can view from various angles.

Pros and Cons of Leasing MRI Machines

There are a number of benefits of MRI machine leasing, including:

• Manage your cash flow effectively - One of the main benefits associated with leasing an MRI machine is that it makes it easier to manage your cash flow. You won’t have to put down a sizable down payment, as you would if you were buying a machine outright. At the same time, you’ll be paying a fixed amount on a monthly basis, so you can forecast and budget with ease. You’ll know your exact expense each month so you can plan and predict better.

• Run an agile business that can easily adapt- If you lease an MRI machine, you’ll be able to upgrade or switch to a different machine in the future. This is more important now than it ever has been, as innovation is happening at a rapid pace. So, if you lease an MRI machine and new technology appears on the market, you’ll be in a position whereby you can easily make the most of this.

Some of the drawbacks worth keeping in mind are:

• You won’t own the machine until the end of the lease (if you decide to purchase it)- At the end of the lease, you have a choice to return the the MRI machine, or you may have the option of purchasing it for its fair market value, depending on the structure of your agreement. This means that for the duration of the lease, the MRI machine that you’re paying toward isn’t your own.

Pros and Cons of Buying MRI Machines

There are some benefits associated with purchasing MRI machines, such as:

• You’ll have complete ownership of the machine- If you purchase an MRI machine outright, it’s YOUR machine. You have complete ownership from the beginning.

On the flip side, a number of negatives include:

• You’ll need to make a sizable down payment- One of the main drawbacks of buying an MRI machine is that you’ll need to put down a sizable down payment. This is something that a lot of business owners cannot afford. Of course, you can look into a loan, yet loans tend to be less favorable than leasing. They can be more expensive, and they’re not tailored to equipment purchases specifically. They can often be used for anything.

• There’s not much flexibility- Last but not least, once you purchase an MRI machine, you can only sell it if you are looking for a different piece of equipment. This means you don’t have a lot of flexibility, so it’s not easy to adapt your strategy or make upgrades if new technology appears on the market.

• You’re solely responsible for maintenance– While a benefit of purchasing is ownership, it is also a drawback in the long run. Once you take ownership of your MRI machine, it is up to you to maintain your equipment. Repairs and regular maintenance is your financial responsibility.

How to figure out whether buying or leasing an MRI machine is right for you?

Only you can determine whether leasing or purchasing an MRI machine makes the most sense for your business. It all depends on your current financial situation, the amount of equipment you require, and how often you see yourself upgrading this equipment.

You can use MRI machine leasing calculator to assist you with this. MRI machine leasing rates can differ based on the machine you need, your current circumstances, and the leasing equipment company in question. This is why using a calculator is a good way of determining whether or not the lease repayments make sense for you.

Carefully assess your options when acquiring an MRI machine for your hospital

As you can see, there are drawbacks and benefits of MRI machine leasing and purchasing an MRI machine outright. This is why you need to carefully assess your options to figure out which will make the most sense for you. All hospitals are different, and only you can determine which solution best fits your needs.