Cars, houses, heck- your children! It seems that all of life's major investments entail costs long after we acquire them. From your imaging facility's business perspective, the equipment investment in an OEC 9900 C-arm is certainly no exception. While its functionality and image quality make it one of the top fluoroscopy tools available to serve patients, ownership of a C-arm comes with necessary long-term costs that should be a part of your C-arm purchasing considerations.
To help you weigh these needs along with your purchase price, we've compiled average costs for three tiers of OEC 9900 service and parts through Block Imaging. Read on to build a general understanding of what it can cost to maintain and protect your C-arm investment.
Tier 1: Time and Materials
If you choose to opt out of parts and service coverage, these are the average market prices for the 5 most expensive OEC 9900 parts, depending on the age of the part:
- X-ray Tube- $3,000 -$4,000
- Image Intensifier- $5,000- $7,000 (9" version), $5,000- $7,000 (12" version)
- CCD Camera - $4,500 -$6,000
- HV cable - $2,000 - $3,000
- CPU- $2,000- $3,000
On top of these costs will be the time and labor of a field engineer to diagnose the problem, install replacements, and recalibrate the unit.
Tier 2: PM-Only Agreement
As the name implies, this type of service agreement covers the cost of only the annual preventative maintenance (PM) on your 9900, leaving additional labor, travel, and parts costs to you. The PM-Only agreement is offered on a 1-year term basis, with the option of auto-renewal, or 3 and 5 year terms. The average monthly cost of a PM-Only plan is around $125.
While there is risk exposure to non-preventable or sudden equipment failures with the PM-Only plan, it does provide the OEM-recommended minimum for keeping your C-arm in good working condition and helps diagnose preventable problems before they arise and put your system out of commission.
Tier 3: Full Service Agreement
Full Service coverage includes the cost of replacement parts, engineer labor, and a preventative maintenance (PM) visit. A PM offers the added benefit of early diagnosis of potential issues. Undiagnosed issues are more likely to lead to the failure of multiple parts and significant downtime. One year of Full Service coverage averages between $7,500 and $10,500. With both parts and labor covered, a Full Service contract may also pay for itself with just one service call.
The Takeaway
Depending on your appetite for risk and your facility's unique budget scenario, any one of these tiers could be an excellent option for you. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, we're happy to help with our engineering support team and our inventory of OEC C-arm replacement parts. Contact us to talk about the best parts and service fit for your facility's needs.
Sheldon Schehr: October 9, 2024
Steve Rentz: September 10, 2024