MORE Questions to Ask BEFORE You Buy a Used CT Scanner

This one goes out to all the CT scanner shoppers that still need a little coaching to find their tomographic soul mate. If you read last week’s Questions to Ask BEFORE You Buy a Used CT Scanner and haven’t pulled the trigger yet, we’ve got even more ways to winnow down the selection. Ask your doctors and imaging techs these questions too. If they’re still talking to you after all the questions you already asked, there’s a good chance you’ll be walking away with some additional guidance on your purchase.

More CT Scanner Questions

• Is buying refurbished CT something you can even consider? Honestly, we know that some doctors and administrators are very entrenched in OEM buying habits and won’t even consider buying refurbished. It’s nothing personal; we understand that. We’re still happy to help, but if this is the case, please let us know up front so we can give a more abbreviated response.
  
  
• What are your radiologists and techs familiar with? If your people have been using GE since they were hatched it might not be worth the internal battle to switch them to a Philips system because you were sold on a catchy slogan or a slick promotional packet.
  
  
• What studies will you be doing? If you are going to be performing cardiac studies, you’ll need at least a 64-slice machine. If you intend to do non-angiographic studies you may be able to use a 4-slice.
  
  
• Can your facility handle a chiller? Some facilities have a cold water supply already, so the installation of a water-cooled system isn’t a stretch. Depending on the layout of the building, it could be a huge struggle for others. This question alone could eliminate 25-50% of the options on the market.
  
  
• How prevalent are spare parts? If you’re carrying any portion of the risk for your CT scanner service or any responsibility for timely parts delivery, then make sure parts are accessible! Depending on where in the world you are, your equipment’s manufacturer may or may not have much presence. If the equipment is late-model, scarcity on the secondary market could force you into the higher prices of OEM service. It’s best to ask your system vendor if they stock spare parts or have access to them. Generally, a vendor can answer this either immediately or with a quick call to their warehouse staff.

Just like the questions we answered last week, we can’t say that these two articles will provide you with every last facet of your ultimate decision, but we can say that you’ll save a lot of time NOT looking at equipment that is out of your budget, out of your specialty, and out of favor with the staff that will use it every day.

If you need help getting these answers, contact us. We want you to be as informed as possible when you enter the CT scanner market. There is no “one size fits all” CT. Let us help you find the right fit.