How Much Does a CT Scanner Cost?
Every day people ask me, “How much should I budget for a CT Scanner?” and that is just too broad of a question. It is a little like asking how much a car costs. A Ford Pinto isn’t going to cost you much... you may be able to just pull it for free off my neighbor’s front lawn… but that Maserati is going to be a touch more expensive.
So in order to make sure you get the CT Scanner you need for the right price you should be ready to answer the following questions:
What types of studies will you be performing?
This will help us narrow down on how many Slices per Rotation your scanner will take. For example, if you are performing a lot of Cardiac Studies you should probably buy a 64 Slice CT due to the constant motion of the heart. Whereas Angio and Perfusion studies can often be done effectively with a 4 Slice scanner. Answering this question will also determine if you need a unique software option (Cardiac, Fluoro, Perfusion, etc).
Do you prefer a certain manufacturer?
GE, Siemens, Toshiba and Philips are the 4 big names in CT. If you can only take one of them, you’ve just eliminated 75% of your options. That may be worth doing if your tech is trained on it or if the Radiologist swears GE is the only CT worth using... but in general, try to keep your options open. GE is usually about 30% more expensive than its counterparts and Air Cooled Scanners tend to be more expensive than Water Cooled.
What is your schedule like?
You should have an idea of when you’ll need installation and when a decision will be made. For a 16 Slice and below it’s a good idea to leave 60-90 days between a decision being made and installation.
For anything above a 16 Slice (32-64 slice) you may want to leave 90-120 days. Sometimes you may be able to have the perfect system installed the next day, but you definitely don’t want to bank on that.
What is your budget?
You’re thinking “WAIT! I can’t tell you my budget, you’ll try to sell me a Pinto for the Maserati price!” Here are some guidelines for installed pricing on refurbished CT scanners:
- 4 Slice: $75,000 - $100,000*
- 16 Slice: $160,000 - $225,000*
- 64 Slice: $325,000 - $425,000*
*These are "Installed" price ranges. Applications training, site drawings and annual service agreements ("warranties" ranging from $50,000-$130,000) are additional components often built into a full "turn-key" purchase price.
Like anything, it comes down to supply and demand. The more you limit your options, whether by software options, manufacturer, or schedule... the less supply you will have available.
Sometimes it’s a necessity, but the more flexibility the better. For a more detailed CT quote please contact us… and happy shopping!
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