Your Guide to Medical Imaging Equipment

If you're exploring the option of renting a C-arm, you probably have questions about how your system will be supported during your rental term. These are important considerations since, for some, your rental may stretch out over many months. In this post we'll offer some clarity on the questions: Do C-arm rentals include service? And what does service look like during a C-arm rental?

Interventional cath and angio systems are not only big investments, they're a cornerstone modality in hospitals and clinics. This is why it's crucial to have the right level of service coverage for them. If you're not confident in your service coverage, few things are worse than finding out the tube or detector on your cath lab has failed and needs to be replaced.

To avoid situations like this, which can quickly rack up costs in time, money, and aggravation, you can mitigate the problem with the right service plan. Below, we'll cover a few things to consider while you shop for cath lab service. We'll also discuss three levels of coverage on the cath lab service market and what they offer in support and peace of mind.

If you’re in the market for a cath lab, chances are you’re familiar with the significant costs involved with the project. While there are many factors that go into the total cost of purchasing a cath lab (construction, acquisition, installation), there is one specific factor you can approach differently to save money.

What is this sorcery, you ask? It boils down to one word: service. Keep reading, and we'll share with you how the way you protect your system with service coverage can save you thousands of dollars.

If you are not yet familiar with The Critical Medical Infrastructure Right-to-Repair Act of 2020, “Right to Repair” for short, here’s some quick background. The bill was introduced on August 6^th by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Rep. Yvette Clark of New York in response to concerns that repairs and maintenance on medical equipment were being hampered by restrictive contracts and copyright laws during the COVID-19 crisis.

A statement from Senator Wyden’s website describes the bill’s specifics, saying that, for at least the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, it would:

• Protect equipment owners, lessees, and servicers from liability under federal copyright law for creating an incidental copy of service materials or for breaking a digital lock during the course of equipment repair in response to COVID-19;
• Allow equipment owners or lessees to fabricate patented parts on a non-commercial basis and as needed for repair or maintenance in response to COVID-19;
• Invalidate provisions in equipment contracts to the extent that they prohibit or restrict the repair or maintenance of critical medical infrastructure in response to COVID-19; 
• Require manufacturers to provide, on fair and reasonable terms, access to information and tools used to diagnose problems and service, maintain, or repair equipment; and
• Require the Federal Trade Commission to evaluate the bill’s impact and effectiveness on innovation and competition in the critical medical infrastructure market.

The bill has garnered praise and support from rural healthcare systems, independent engineering groups, and many civil interest groups but, unsurprisingly, has come under fire from OEMs and their partner lobbying groups.

We emphasize preventive maintenance (PM) a lot here at Block Imaging. We type about it in emails. We talk about it on the phone. We blog about it online. This emphasis is because we firmly believe that regular preventive maintenance for X-ray machines, and all other kinds of medical imaging equipment, is essential to safety, image quality, and minimizing downtime. 

We would love to be the company you choose to provide preventive maintenance for your X-ray system, but even if we're not, we're going to share with you what an effective PM looks like, in three stages.

Need Preventive Maintenance Now? We can help. No Contract Required!