Equipment Finance for Doctors

When you want equipment for your medical practice, you will want the best. You can’t afford to use anything less for your patient’s health and your professional reputation. But buying the best can, in itself, mean substantial cost, however, not having the cash to buy top of the range equipment outright does not mean that you need to try and work without it.

Whether you are starting up, buying into an existing practice or ready to move your current business on, a wide range of diagnostic and other equipment will be required. There are ways to provide the equipment you need and spread the cost at the same time.

Your equipment needs may include:

• Lighting
• X-ray equipment
• Ultrasound equipment
• Equipment sterilizers
• IT equipment – from handheld devices to a centralised booking and billing system
• Vehicles - cars to help you make house calls

Asset Finance is a broad term that covers a range of funding solutions. They provide access to all kinds of assets - equipment, IT, even lighting, seating and carpets that your practice must have - without making impossible demands on your cash flow.

Hire Purchase

Hire Purchase lets you acquire an asset right away and spread the cost in instalments over an agreed period of time, often up to 5 years or more. At the end of this term, you own the asset outright. Hire Purchase is often used for items that have a high cost and a relatively long life.

Leasing

Leasing works much like a rental agreement and lets you use the equipment you need without having to buy it outright. You pay the finance company each month for using the asset. If you are using a technical piece of equipment that could go out of date, a leasing agreement can be ideal, as it can be easy to update it when a better model becomes available. Leasing can also include maintenance agreements - meaning that keeping your equipment in perfect condition is the responsibility of the lender.

New or secondhand?

New equipment may be ideal, but refurbished equipment can also be a good investment for the future of your business. We can help you cut costs with pre-owned equipment – then cut them again with Asset Finance.

Can your supplier help?

Most suppliers will be only too pleased to help you afford the equipment you want with their own asset finance arrangements. But beware. In many cases, they will be making a handsome profit from providing the finance as well as on the equipment itself. They may even offer 0% finance to close the sale. It looks as cheap as buying with cash, and it can be tempting to take up a 0% offer. But there is a catch.

As a borrower, you won’t pay any interest on the sum you borrow. So, if you finance a £20,000 imaging system for your practice with an interest-free agreement from the supplier, you’ll repay just £20,000, even if you take a year or two to do so.

With a 0% deal, the dealer pays the funding company the cost of the interest which they would otherwise take from you - but they will recover the cost from you, the customer. You won’t pay interest, but the supplier may add the interest cost into his sale price.

Why you need Rangewell to arrange the Asset Finance that’s right for you

Asset Finance can let you spread the cost of all kinds of medical equipment. But there are many different types of Asset Finance and many different providers. Not all providers work in every sector and terms and rates can vary widely.

At Rangewell, our team includes Asset Finance experts. They can help you find the right kind of finance arrangement, the lenders who work in your sector, and the most competitive deals. By searching across the entire market, we can often find Asset Finance plans which actually undercut the 0% finance offers provided by vehicle and equipment dealers. So if you're looking for medical equipment finance, or any other type of doctor financing, contact us today.