Buying surgical equipment is the default. It isn’t always the right call. Here’s how we think about it with the ASCs and physician groups we work with.
The real cost of buying
A new C-arm runs $150K–$400K+ before you factor in the 6–12 week OEM lead time, a separate service contract ($15K–$30K a year), depreciation, and eventually end-of-life disposition. That is capital and attention pulled away from what grows a surgery center: procedure volume.
When renting wins
- You’re adding a service line or surgeon. Get the equipment deployed in days, with no CapEx approval cycle stalling the ramp.
- A unit went down mid-schedule. An emergency replacement keeps your cases, and your revenue, running.
- You’re not sure the volume justifies a purchase. Rent it, prove the caseload, then buy it out or send it back.
- The equipment is older but perfectly good. Traditional lenders won’t finance a 7-year-old C-arm. We will.
When buying still makes sense
If a piece of equipment is core to your highest-volume procedures and you’ll run it hard for many years, ownership can pencil out, especially if you already have strong in-house biomed coverage. The point is to match the financing structure to how you will use the equipment.
The middle path
Rent-to-own lets you validate the case volume before committing capital, and every rental includes maintenance, parts, and labor for the full term. If you’re weighing a purchase, it’s worth running the rental numbers alongside it before the check is written.
To have this modeled against a specific unit, request a quote and we will lay out the options.